BHUBANESWAR: A 35-year-old man went missing after he fell into a swollen drain even as heavy rain triggered by a low pressure battered the state capital for the third day in a row.
As per reports, Anil Singh from the nearby Patharbandha slum remained untraceable after falling into drainage channel no 4 near Vani Vihar while picking plastics from a garbage pile. On being informed, two fire services teams and a striking force from the fire services wing rushed to the spot and launched a rescue operation. However, Singh was not traced till late in the evening.
Mayor Sulochana Das, Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) commissioner Chanchal Rana and other officials visited the site to take stock of the situation. Rana told mediapersons that the drainage site where the mishap took place remained inaccessible to general public.
“Even on a normal day it is extremely difficult for a person to reach to the site. How he reached there is under investigation. Rescue work has been stepped up, while two teams from BMC and BDA have been mobilised to assist the fire services personnel in their work,” he said.
The rains, however, exposed the the poor monsoon preparedness of BMC as more than 25 areas of the city were waterlogged on Saturday. The civic body struggled to clear storm water.
Water-level increased above four feet high in Mohanty Gadia area of Kalarahanga prompting fire services team to deploy two de-watering pumps.
Pump sets were also deployed at Baibhab Nagar in ward no 4, Banaphula slum in Chandrasekharpur, Garage Chowk near Old Town, Badagada canal road and Pandakudia slum among others to tackle the crisis as poor drainage system in these localities failed to clear storm water.
Fire services department deployed seven pumps while BMC deployed another 19 pumps to dewater low-lying pockets. BMC officials said eight rapid action teams (RATs) were also mobilised to different localities to deal with waterlogging.