Mangaluru: A week after Kottara Chowki was flooded following heavy rain, Mangaluru City Corporation on Monday removed the cement slabs which had covered a raja kaluve (main storm-water drain) abutting the National Highway 66 in the chowki, for easily dredging the drain.

According to corporation Commissioner Mohammed Nazir, the slabs were removed from eight places along the main drain, including from the drain in front of Mahesh Pre-University College.

However, slabs at the entrance to the college have not been removed, he said.

He said that it was not possible to dredge the drain in those places as the slabs, laid out by private parties, had covered the drain. Dredging of the drain would be taken up on Tuesday.

To a question on allegations about a college near Kodical Cross encroaching upon the raja kaluve thus resulting in chicken neck obstructing the flow of floodwater, he said that the corporation was verifying documents of the property of the college to assess its extent of area. A recent survey by the corporation found that its compound wall was within the limits as mentioned in the documents. But it would be surveyed again, he said.

The Commissioner said that there are several such chicken necks on the raja kaluves in the jurisdiction of the corporation.

In many places, water supply pipelines and other utility lines have criss-crossed making dredging difficult.

In some places, there are no approaches for earthmovers to get into major drains for dredging. Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner Sasikanth Senthil S. has asked a team headed by the Commissioner of Mangaluru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) to inspect the major storm-water drains joining the Nethravathi from Jeppinamogaru and the Phalguni (or Gurupur river) from Kottara Chowki for encroachments and submit a report.

Mr. Senthil has stated that the encroachments would be removed based on the findings of the report.