Kerala High Court Seeks Urgent Action on Monsoon Preparedness in Kochi, Directs Secretary Of Corporation To Submit Report

The Kerala High Court on Thursday (06 March) expressed serious concern over the lack of preparedness for the upcoming monsoon in the city.The Court has also directed the District Collector to convene an urgent meeting of the District Collector's Committee within a week and ensure concrete steps are taken to make Kochi city monsoon-ready. It has further directed the Secretary of the Corporation to submit a report on the Preparedness of Corporation for the Monsoon Season. Justice Devan Ramchandran was considering the review petition in a petition concerning the upkeep of Perandoor Canal. The Court had earlier, in its judgment, directed the District Collector's Committee to oversee the City's Canal and Drainage system. The Court in its judgment has also directed the Committee to create a drainage map of the city through scientific methods. While considering the review petition, the Court noted that even though the first week of March had already passed, there was no information from either the District Collector's Committee or the Kochi Corporation regarding preparations to tackle the monsoon, which is expected to arrive in about three months.The Court cautioned that even if a semblance of what happened in 2018 and 2019 (floods) happen now, it would be cataclysmic for the city. “The memory is of course short for the civil administration but what happened in 2018 and 2019 are certainly not forgotten by people. If even a semblance of it is to happen again, it will be cataclysmic.” the court said. During the hearing, amicus curiae had informed the court that the District Collector's Committee had met only once in the past few months and that necessary mitigation measures had not been taken despite specific directions from the court.The court remarked that the continuing inaction of officials and concerned entities was troubling and that the potential hardship citizens could face if the situation persisted was a matter of grave concern. The judge noted that at one stage there had even been consideration of halting the proceedings due to the unresponsive attitude of authorities.“The grave problem that the citizen would face if the situation is to continue is the only thing that … to further action; but because I had .. at one point of time, thought of stopping proceedings adverting to the rather unresponsive stand of the officers and the other entities.” Court added The court thus ordered the District Collector to ensure that a meeting of the committee is held within the next week. The committee has been asked to identify every pressing requirement necessary to prepare Kochi for the monsoon and to draw up a schedule for implementing those measures.The Secretary of the Kochi Corporation has also been instructed to submit a report detailing the decisions taken by the Corporation to prepare the city for the monsoon. The report must be placed before the court on the next posting date.Case Title: Treasa K J v State of KeralaCase Number: RP 165/ 2026 in WP(C) NO. 23911 OF 2018Counsel for the Petitioner: Dr. K P Pradeep, T T Biju, K P Kesavan Nair, Neena Arimboor, Sanand Ramakrishnan, T ThasmiAmici Curiae: Sunil Jacob Jose, A G Sunil Kumar , Govind Padmanabhan

Kerala High Court Seeks Urgent Action on Monsoon Preparedness in Kochi, Directs Secretary Of Corporation To Submit Report

Anamika MJ

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