CUTTACK: A brief spell of rain brought normal life to a standstill in several regions in Cuttack on Friday. With no proper drainage or sewerage system, roads and open spaces in the residential areas were inundated with rainwater mixed with sewage.
The problem is especially acute in wards 56, 57, 58, and 59 under the Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) and persisted for years.
Despite these wards being brought under CMC’s jurisdiction 25 years ago, and the civic body having seen four mayors and 19 commissioners since, residents say their plight remains unchanged.
Adding to their frustration, these four wards were left out of the JICA-funded Odisha Integrated Sanitation Improvement Project (OISIP), which aimed to provide Cuttack with a comprehensive drainage and sewerage system. In 2021, CMC announced plans for a stormwater channel to address waterlogging in these wards and engaged WAPCOS Limited to conduct a survey and prepare a detailed project report (DPR).
Though WAPCOS completed the survey and submitted the DPR, sources allege the report has been gathering dust in the civic body’s engineering section for the last three years.
The DPR proposed a main stormwater channel, supported by branch drains across colonies, at an estimated cost of `600 crore. However, citing excessive expenditure, CMC has not moved forward with the project, fuelling resentment among residents.
“We have been paying taxes to CMC to avail basic civic facilities. This is nothing but step-motherly treatment,” said Sudhansu Acharya, a resident of Jagannath Vihar in ward 57 of the CMC.
Attempts to get a response from CMC commissioner Kirandeep Kaur Sahota and mayor Subhas Singh proved futile.