KOCHI: As the Public Works Department plans to revive the Karshaka road at the Southern entry of the railway station, residents here are sceptical about the plan and feel that PWD’s good intentions will only result in waste of money, about Rs 5-10 lakh.Residents are concerned as the Karshaka road, which leads to the Railway Station, is generally waterlogged from the wastewater coming from the railways’ drainage pipes. “Even during the dry season, the roads are filled with the wastewater flowing out from the toilets and bathrooms of the railway station. In the past, there was a railway canal which connected the drainage from the railway station to the Perandoor canal. But with the construction of the Eastern entry gate of the South railway station, the drainage system was destroyed, leaving the waste to flow to the roads, even when there are no rains. Nothing has yet been done on this,” said Viju C, a local resident.Meanwhile, a PWD officer T I Jose said, “ For now, we are working on a budget of Rs 5-10 lakh. Within a period of two months, we will also be looking into solving the perennial problem of wastewater inflow to the road.”According to the railway sources, the railway authorities have been consistently informed about this issue, but they have been adamant in their claims that it is the corporation which is responsible for creating a better and cleaner environment for the residents to reside in.Corporation standing committee chairperson Soumini Jain said, “The residents themselves are standing in our way. We had earlier made a proposal and taken all the estimates to connect the railway drainage system to the Perandoor canal via the Udyaya colony. But the colony residents, themselves, are strongly opposing our move and claiming that our measures would force wastewater to then flow inside their homes.”The other reason, why the proposal for a connecting drainage line is still in the pipeline is the Indian Oil Corporation has refused to provide them the sanction to allow the culvert line to pass through their area.“We are presently, thinking of another proposal to solve this problem without affecting the public in any way, but it still not been put on paper,” Jain said.
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