Cyclone Titli: Overflowing drains, inundated roads
CUTTACK: Incessant overnight rain under the influence of cyclone Titli led to overflowing drains and inundated roads in almost all the low-lying areas of the Millennium City on Friday. More than 115 residential areas and markets in 30 Wards of Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) have been flooded with rain and drain water making life miserable.
The worst affected areas are Patapola, Rausa Patana, Sutahat, Meria Bazaar, Friends Colony, Ganga Mandir, Odia Bazaar, Balu Bazaar, Kazi Bazaar, Kesharpur, Gomadiha, Stuart Patna, Nima Sahi, Samanta Sahi, Tulasipur, Sidheswarsahi, Mansinghpatna, Tanlasahi, Kanika Chowk, Rover Street, Khatbin Sahi, Badambadi, Roxy Lane, Pithapur, Rajabagicha, Jhanjir Mangala, Jobra, Jagatpur, Mahanadi Vihar, Nuabazaar, Khannagar and some parts of Chauliaganj and Madhupatana. The traffic movement in the city came to a grinding halt in several areas with the connecting roads and lanes inundated under knee-deep water.
Overflowing drain water entered several houses in low-lying areas like Patapola, Mehendipur, Sutahat Tanti Sahi, Kazi Bazaar, Nua Raousapatana, Pithapur, Sutahat, Roxy Lane, Badambadi, Tulasipur, Deula Sahi, Kanika Chowk, Shelter Chowk, Rajabagicha and Dolamundai, Kesharpur. “Water started entering the houses in our locality at around 4 am and we had to move all the household articles to safer places,” said Pranati Biswal, a resident of Roxy Lane.
The CMC authorities were found shaky in their approach to clear the waterlogging even though they claimed to have opened sluice gates at Matru Bhawan and Khannagar and installed more than 200 pumps to drain out stormwater. Sources said the process of draining out stormwater has been hampered as several pump sets developed technical snag. With clogged drains, it has become a challenge for the civic body to drain out stormwater into both the swelling rivers of Mahanadi and Kathajodi.
The residents blamed lack of preparedness on part of CMC and district administration to deal with such emergency. The city has received 137 mm rainfall till 8 am, CMC Commissioner Sarat Chandra Nayak said and added that the situation would improve as the rain has stopped lashing. The administration has started providing cooked and dry foods to more than 18,000 affected people stranded in different waterlogged localities of the city.