BHUBANESWAR: In a move that will resolve the perennial waterlogging problem in Nayapalli area including the service road of NH-16 in front of Iskcon temple, the Ministry of Defence has accorded permission to the State government for construction of an underground drain on 0.44 acre land at 120 Infantry (TA) battalion in the locality.
The consent was granted on the basis of a request made by Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi last year. Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has informed Sarangi that the permission has been given for construction of the drain on 0.44 acre land or 1,770 sq mt stretch inside the battalion at Nayapalli on licence basis.
Bringing this to the notice of Chief Secretary SC Mahapatra on Friday, Sarangi said the engineering personnel of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) had proposed construction of a major drain in Nayapalli to clear storm water accumulated in the area. It had suggested that a portion of drain would have to be constructed inside the battalion for which permission from the Ministry of Defence was required.
She requested the Chief Secretary to issue appropriate instructions to the BMC to undertake the drainage construction work in Nayapalli immediately. “The residents of the area have been suffering immensely due to lack of proper drainage system in the locality. It becomes worse during monsoon. The construction of the drain will alleviate the distress of around 10,000 residents of Nayapalli area,” she wrote.
In the absence of a drainage channel to release storm water, parts of Nayapalli and the entire stretch of the service road of NH-16 in front of the Iskcon temple get inundated for hours during heavy rains. Earlier this week, the vehicular movement came to a grinding halt on the stretch after it was filled with knee-deep water due to heavy showers. The storm water also gushed into houses.