BHUBANESWAR: An intense spell of rain lashed the Capital City region on Saturday, disrupting normal life and traffic in parts of Bhubaneswar and Jatni.The heavy showers that continued from morning to noon made life tough for the commuters, with a ‘Mo Bus’ en-route from Jatni to Bhubaneswar trapped in a waterlogged underpass on the city outskirts. The bus remained stuck on the flooded road in Jatni as locals rescued all the passengers. The bus was driven away only after the water level receded.
Owing to heavy waterlogging bus service was temporarily suspended on the route till evening. Similarly, traffic movement came to a grinding halt in front of the Iskcon temple in Nayapalli for nearly an hour as storm water flooded the service road of the National Highway (NH) - 16 in knee-deep water forcing the Commissionerate Police to divert traffic from CRPF square.
A senior official from Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) said the NHAI has already been asked to submit its plan to resolve the waterlogging issue in front of Iskcon. With the State Capital recording over 36 mm rainfall till afternoon left many low-lying areas here including Gayatri Nagar, Satya Vihar and Jagannath Nagar also submerged.
Vehicles were seen struggling to move through waterlogged stretches in Nayapalli, Jaydev Vihar, Janpath and Bomikhal in the Capital. Besides, traffic movement was also disrupted in parts of Chandrasekharpur and Patia.“The drainage system will be revamped after the monsoon is over to prevent waterlogging in the City from next year,” BMC Commissioner Vijay Amruta Kulange said.