BHUBANESWAR: A Spell of rain that lashed parts of the state capital on Saturday under the impact of western disturbances brought back the misery of waterlogging in many areas, exposing the vulnerability of the city to urban flooding.
IMD official said only 10 mm rainfall was reported in the Capital between 8.30 am and 5.30 pm. It, however, was enough to turn the service road of the NH-16 in front of Iskcon temple into a swamp.The area remained waterlogged for nearly an hour forcing Commissionerate Police to divert the vehicular traffic between CRPF square and Nayapalli.
The low-lying areas of Laxmisagar and Jharpada including Jagannath Nagar and Mahadev Nagar also reported waterlogging. Commuters were also seen wading through the waterlogged roads in Bomikhal and Behera Sahi.
The rain affected the Mo Bus service in the city as Capital Region Urban Transport (CRUT) had to delay its service in some of the waterlogged stretches. The bus service was affected in some areas as police diverted the routes. Buses had to use the flyovers due to flooding of the roads, CRUT officials said.
BMC officials, on the other hand, said that the drainage restoration work in waterlogged stretches are in progress, while some are in tender stage and will be started soon, said officials of BMC drainage wing.
Stating that the waterlogging was mild, they said the civic body had readied pump sets for dewatering in the event of heavy waterlogging.
When asked about the frequent waterlogging at Iskcon road, they admitted that any alternative plan to address the issue is yet to be worked out, though several round of talks have been initiated with the NHAI officials in this regard in the past.
“The area gets waterlogged because of the storm water it receives from two nearest wards as well as the storm water from 1.5 km stretch of the NH. The matter will be taken up with the officials again to prevent waterlogging in the area,” said an official from the drainage division of the BMC.