Kolhapur city monsoon preparation stalls as just 40% drain-cleaning work completed

Kolhapur: Only 40% of nullah and drainage cleaning works in the city have been completed, despite being three weeks away from the official start of monsoon.Although the work to clean the nullahs started from March 23, the progress was slow. Activists allege the slow place will eventually invitate floods into the district.Activist Ramesh More said, "Kolhapur city witnessed heavy flooding in 2019 and 2021 as drainages and nullahs were blocked after cleaning works. If rain occurrs now, the city will be in a critial situation. Therefore, KMC officials needs to look that the work are progressed at a fast pace here after." The sewer cleaning work carried out by the Kolhapur Municipal Corporation (KMC) before the monsoon has gained momentum, and cleaning of seven out of 21 places has been completed through Poklan. The cleaning work being carried out by the employees has reached 64%.The Kolhpur Municipal Corporation's health department is cleaning drains, nullahs and streams before the monsoon. This campaign, which started on March 23, is being carried out with the help of manpower as well as modern earth moving machinery.KMC health department official requesting anonymity said, "Using manpower, 246 out of 476 places have been cleaned by the staff. 87 out of 206 places have been cleaned by earth moving machinery which is upto 40%. There are two separate teams of KMC employees. One team has 24 employees and the other has 29 employees. A total of seven earthmoving machinery, and four dumpers are also being used. The work will be completed before the end of May month."