BHUBANESWAR: The blame game has begun over the waterlogging in several parts of Bhubaneswar after Thursday’s heavy rain, with the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) holding the Irrigation wing responsible for the flooding in areas along the Daya West Canal.
Mayor Sulochana Das, who visited the waterlogged areas in wards 31, 32, 33, 43 and 45, alleged that the flooding was caused by a choked stretch of the canal within the city.
She said the clogged canal had led to waterlogging in the low-lying areas following the heavy rain. The Daya West Canal is under the control of the Irrigation wing, which is responsible for its maintenance and desilting, she said.
“We have been repeatedly writing to them on this issue. The current chief secretary, who had earlier headed the irrigation wing, was also apprised of the matter in 2022, and we have continued to pursue it with the department. However, there has been no progress,” the mayor told mediapersons.
She added that the BMC had only recently received permission to construct two siphons across the canal in wards 43 and 45. “Unless the siphon works are completed, residents of these low-lying areas will continue to face waterlogging,” she said.
The civic body’s stand, however, has sparked sharp reactions over attempting to shift the blame from its own failure to address the long-pending drainage problems in the affected localities. Irrigation wing sources claimed the Daya West Canal is not designed to carry BMC drain water. Instead, the civic body’s drainage channels pass beneath the canal through siphons, making it BMC’s responsibility to clean and maintain those drains before the onset of the monsoon to ensure the free flow of stormwater.
An official alleged that the BMC failed to carry out the required maintenance, leaving residents to bear the brunt of the flooding. Last year, soon after the onset of the monsoon, the BMC compelled the Water Resources department to force a breach in the bank of the Daya West Canal near the Badagada siphon without adequate technical planning, creating persistent problems for local residents.
The official also stated that the BMC began constructing two new siphons across the canal only after the onset of the monsoon this year, in violation of codal provisions governing such works.
Meanwhile, sources in the Irrigation wing said desilting and cleaning of the Daya West Canal are likely to begin in September.
The state capital continued to receive heavy rainfall on Friday for the second continuous day. As a precautionary measure, residents of low-lying slum areas in Patia near the Gangua Nullah were shifted to a flood shelter at Pandara.