Woes reign as rains fall

By Kumudini Hettiarachchi

"In the sixties, just before the rainy season we could see the Colombo Municipal Council trucks with their suction pipes clearing all drains, manholes and ducts of leaves, polythene and muck. It does not seem to happen now," says a retired public servant who lives in Narahenpita.

You can see the mosquito larvae even during the dry season in small pools of stagnant water because the clogged drains have not been cleaned, he explains.

There are some complaints about specific locations and this is only in the city of Colombo. D.R. Wijewardene Mawatha, Narahenpita Junction, Saunder's Place in the Pettah, some places along Havelock Road.

"We are doing our best and I think doing it successfully," says Colombo Mayor Omar Kamil who had just returned to the Town Hall after inspecting the locations where the CMC is implementing the Floodwater Control Plan.

Detailing the priorities of the CMC since 1997, Mr. Kamil said garbage disposal was at the top of the list, followed by road rehabilitation, providing common amenities for low income areas and last but not least concentrating on those all important storm water drains.

A major programme to construct, where necessary, desilt and build bunds of the main storm water drains has been in place since 1999. "We earmarked Rs. 80 million in 1999 for 36 such drains, Rs. 59 million for 25 in 2000 and Rs. 95 million for 34 this year," Mr. Kamil said.

A large clogged drain off Isipathana Mawatha
He cites the example of the roundabout near Devi Balika Vidyalaya. "It's like a basin and for 40 years water was stagnating there. We desilted the underground drain and have had no complaints since then."

What of allegations that the trucks fitted with suction tubes are not deployed anymore? The 'backhoe' machines are at work and can be seen doing their rounds of the city, assures the Mayor. They were used at Saunder's Court in the Pettah even recently.

However, according to the First Citizen of the capital city, there is a slight problem. "The attitude of the people must change. You need two hands to clap. The CMC alone cannot keep the city clean and the drains unclogged. Take the Pettah. However much you may clean the area, people use it as a dustbin. We need to change the attitude and culture of the people." 

And a stroll through the filth and squalor of Pettah, a major rail-bus junction, will prove the Mayor's point. The traders dump polythene bags and empty thambilis into the drains and the mass of humanity which passes through this main nerve centre pays scant regard to the basic rules of cleanliness. Men, women and children dump paper and the ever-lasting sili sili bags not only into drains but all along the roads too. 

"We have to ensure public areas are free of stagnant water. But this film of polythene blocks the gullies. There are around 100 large drains in the city and we have only about 8 to 12 gangs working. So there is a rotation and we need the cooperation of the public," was the Mayor's plaintive cry.

This leads us to the mosquito menace, another major problem that the CMC is preoccupied with. Generally, flooding in the city occurs twice a year during the two monsoons, in March and September followed by swarms of mosquitoes. 

This time the CMC had found that even during the height of the dry weather the mosquitoes were breeding in public places and in large unattended gardens.

A fogging programme is underway and malathion is being sprayed. "Our doctors went in boats spraying canals too, to rid the city of this scourge," Mr. Kamil said.

Ratepayers can call the CMC at any time on the general line (695348) about any problems especially with regard to drainage. 

On Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, we also operate an emergency service between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on 074-722022, said the Mayor.

Like the CMC attempting to make the taxpayers' rupees work, the prayer of ratepayers in councils spread across the country is that their representatives would do their job to make life a little bit easy for them. 

At the mercy of floods and muck

Flooding is one problem, but now all the muck from the massive garbage dump across the road is flowing into our homes, many a resident complained last week.

After a few heavy showers The Sunday Times office was inundated by calls. "Now come and see the area," one woman said. "We told you our woes will treble with the rains." 

Just a month ago, on September 2, in an article titled, 'Filth and muck a-blowing in the wind', The Sunday Times highlighted the plight of exasperated residents who have been forced to suffer the dumping of garbage, practically in their frontyards, by the Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte Municipal Council.

A simple solution to cut a drain by the side of the dump to channel the filthy water to a canal running close-by had not been heeded. "Once again we have sent many complaints, but nothing has happened. What do we do?" asked a desperate resident.

When contacted, Kotte's Deputy Municipal Commissioner Shantha Liyanage said that they had immediately sent a backhoe machine and dug a temporary drain to get rid of the water.

The residents are hoping it will turn out to be a permanent solution soon, before the monsoon starts in earnest.

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