Kakkanad waterlogging has pushed foul-smelling, contaminated water into the grounds of the Thrikkakara Municipal Cooperative Hospital after heavy rain, exposing patients and attendants to unsafe access conditions and highlighting the failure of drainage and waste management on a government-owned site.
The affected area covers nearly six acres of revenue land located between the Ernakulam District Panchayat office and the hospital, near the Thrikkakara municipality office and the Seaport-Airport Road. The land, once a deep depression, was filled with soil by Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL). It has since become a dumping ground for construction debris from metro works and household waste packed in bags, according to a report by Mathrubhumi.
The filling work also buried a culvert that previously carried water through the site. Although the culvert was later located, soil and silt inside it could not be completely removed, leaving the drainage channel without adequate flow. During the recent heavy rain, water from the Kerala Books and Publications Society compound and Kakkanad Junction reportedly flowed towards the hospital campus.
Patients and attendants had to walk through foul-smelling dirty water to enter the hospital. The incident has turned a drainage problem near a healthcare facility into a public-health concern, particularly because the hospital is expected to provide a safe environment for people seeking treatment.
The issue had already been discussed at a high-level meeting held about two months ago under the chairmanship of the district collector, with Thrikkakara MLA Uma Thomas in attendance. Representatives of KMRL, the Thrikkakara municipality and the hospital authorities participated in the meeting, which issued directions for an immediate solution to the waterlogging.
However, no visible remedial work has followed, and waste dumping at the site has reportedly continued. The gap between the meeting’s directions and action on the ground has left the six-acre government property serving neither as usable public land nor as a functioning drainage space.
A proposal for a permanent solution has now been submitted to the district collector by M.S. Anilkumar, chairman of the Thrikkakara municipality’s development standing committee and its United Democratic Front chairman. The proposal calls for a new drain of approximately 150 metres along the side of the District Panchayat office, diverting water towards Kiliyinkal Thodu.
The proposal is expected to undergo a technical feasibility assessment. Its implementation would require coordination between the district administration, the municipality, KMRL and the hospital authorities, as the site’s present condition involves land filling, blocked drainage, waste disposal and stormwater flows from adjoining areas. The district collector’s intervention and the next steps on the proposed drain will determine whether the recurring flooding near the hospital is addressed or continues with each period of heavy rain.
