Around 73% of Kochi city’s population lives in demarcated flood risk zones and 55% of the overall population lives outside a five-minute-response time from fire stations, according to a document prepared to serve as a roadmap to develop a city disaster management plan.
The document was developed under the auspices of Cities4Forests, an international platform that supports cities to protect and manage forests for human well-being. The document titled ‘Shaping a climate-resilient Kochi’ was released on Monday.
Listing out the risks faced by various parts of the city, the document noted that Edakochi and Palluruthy regions of the city, prone to flood risks, were located outside the five-minute service area of fire stations. The analysis found that around 26% of Kochi city’s population lived within flood susceptibility zones.
Though Edakochi North and South and Mundamveli divisions are susceptible to flooding, the nearest fire station is located at a distance of more than three kilometres from the divisions. Moreover, there are no approved flood relief camps within road distance of a five-km radius. The population of those wards was least disaster-resilient when compared to other flood susceptible wards as they could not be immediately rescued or evacuated in the event of flash flooding, the report noted.
The civic body has decided to make the Centre for Heritage, Environment, and Climate Change the nodal agency for coordinating climate resilience activities in the city.
Mayor M. Anilkumar released the document. Deputy Mayor K.A. Ansiya was the chief guest. Development standing committee chairperson P.R. Renish presided.
