CUTTACK: The Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC)’s failure to repair damaged drains in the city has taken a toll on its roads. With guard walls of drains in many parts yet to be repaired, the overflowing sewage has eroded the roads posing a grave risk to citizens.
The majority of the drains flow by the roadside and streets in the city. Owing to lack of proper maintenance, the guard walls of many drains are lying damaged and are yet to be repaired by the civic body. Residents of Sutahat and its nearby localities in ward no 18 said a portion of the guard wall of a drain near Mehbub Pola has been lying damaged for the last one-and-a-half years. The locals have taken up the matter with CMC officials on numerous occasions but no steps have yet been taken to repair it.
The civic body’s apathy has taken a toll on the road beside the drain as a portion of it has been eroded. The eight feet wide road has now been reduced to three feet posing inconvenience to the people. Babuli Nayak of Sutahat Tala Sahi said timely intervention by the civic body would have prevented the erosion of the road passing through the locality. Such damaged drains pose a high risk of mishaps during monsoon. Sources said mishaps during rains when the roads get waterlogged are common in the city.
CMC superintending engineer Bhagyadhar Sahoo, however, said steps were initiated for repairing the broken portion of the guard wall and road at Sutahat. “However, why the work was halted can only be ascertained after going through the official file,” he said.