DITCHED!

TNIE maps the story of how Mullassery Canal, once an arterial waterway of Kochi, has become a swarm after a spate of 'development and rejuvenation'

- RONNIE KURIAKOSE

HE scattered showers that kissed Kochi last week were, no doubt, a welcome break from the sweltering summer heat. But for those living along Mullassery Canal Road, any rain is cause for concern.

For here, there is now neither a road nor a canal - only a quicksand of good intentions, a swamp of what happens when too many government desks share a single ditch.

First envisioned in 2020 as a "three-month project" to tame urban flooding, the canal's rejuvenation has dragged on for over five years.

Gouged open, half-dug, its bed littered with pipes and gunny bags, Mullassery today is, as Lal Singh, who runs a chaat joint nearby, puts it, "a jugaad gone jangli".

Even a stern rap from the High Court this February has failed to fast-track progress. Though the deadline has been extended to May 31, local residents believe timelines have become a running joke among those involved in the project.

Now, with the monsoon just weeks away, they seem certain that the project will be stuck again, just like the city's drains during the first rains.

A VITAL WATERWAY, ONCE

To understand how a simple canal restoration devolved into civic paralysis, we must first understand what Mullassery once was. "The 1.3km stretch, which connected Perandoor canal to the backwaters, was once an arterial waterway. Lush greenery flanked either side, and water gushed through it," recalls 76-year-old P K Balan, a longtime resident of the area.

Later, when water transport declined, the canal assumed a no less crucial role - draining stormwater from Kochi's burgeoning urban heartland. And this it did with quiet efficiency for several years, if not decades, until a spate of 'developmental' works, adds Balan.

In the early 2000s, concrete slabs were rolled across much of the channel, converting it into a road and some sections into parking bays and Fashion Street.