BHUBANESWAR: As rain continues to lash the Capital over the last few days, the IMD forecast of more showers in the next 48 hours due to a fresh low pressure has triggered apprehensions of waterlogging in low-lying areas of the city.
Residents are worried as restoration of the drainage work is yet to be completed in many vulnerable localities. Waterlogging during monsoon season has become an annual affair for many parts of the city like Old Town, Naharkanta, Jagannath Nagar, Nayapalli and other places, thanks to poor drainage network.
The residents of Nandan Vihar said though the locality near Kalarahanga was brought under Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) jurisdiction last year, a concrete drainage plan is yet to be worked out for the area that faces heavy waterlogging during rains.
“Construction of a culvert by the Works department has helped in addressing the problem partially. However, the locality is still prone to severe waterlogging as it doesn’t have a proper internal drainage system to channel the storm water,” said Prahallad Das, a local.
People from Jagannath Nagar and Mahadev Nagar also alleged that despite waterlogging in the locality every monsoon, the BMC is yet to revamp the drainage system, leading to artificial floods during heavy showers.
The intense spell of rain five days back had forced the civic body to commission pumps at a number of places including Gayatri Nagar, Bhoisahi of Hanspal and Basudev Nagar of GGP Colony to drain water from low-lying areas.
Major roads, especially Bomikhal-Rasulgarh stretch on Cuttack-Puri road and Iskcon temple road along NH 26 in Nayapalli, are also expected to face heavy waterlogging in the event of excess rain.
BMC drainage division engineer Goutam Das, however, said as per the direction of the Mayor and Municipal Commissioner, pump sets have been commissioned in vulnerable areas in advance to deal with the waterlogging menace in the event of heavy rain. Water pumps have been kept in at least 12 such places in advance, he said.