Bhubaneswar’s open drains pose grave threat in monsoon
BHUBANESWAR: Even as a 21-year-old youth from Rajasthan died after falling into an open drain in Cuttack, the civic administration in the state capital, which has had several such instances in the recent years, seems to be continuing its blissful slumber.
Open drains have claimed several lives in the city during monsoon, including that of a five-year-old boy at Patitapaban Nagar under ward no 58 last year. With no corrective action by the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) and other agencies concerned, and drains remaining uncovered at many localities, it is a disaster waiting to happen.
The city has 1,123 km of internal drains along roads in 67 wards of which around 663 km is managed by BMC and 360 km by R&B division. Idco manages 65 km of internal drains in industrial estates, while the length of internal drains under NHAI is 34.43 km.
However, neither BMC nor any other agency seems bothered about the plight of the citizens as a large number of internal drains are lying uncovered, turning them into death traps during rainy days. Many patches of internal drains in Nayapalli are yet to be fully covered with slabs. In Rasulgarh, the portion of a three feet wide drain near the industrial estate road close to Esplanade Mall is lying open for months.
“The drain right next to an eatery poses a grave threat to life, especially during rains when the entire stretch from the opposite of IMFA office to Kochilei market gets inundated making it difficult for pedestrians as well as commuters to differentiate between the drain and road. The government should look into it,” said Sobhan, a college student from the locality.
At Baramunda too, a stretch of drain near the entrance of Inter-State Bus Terminal is lying open without any maintenance. Though a portion of NH-16 service road caved into the drain a few months back, posing a grave threat to hundreds of buses plying on the road, the government agencies appear to be little concerned.
While around 60 km of internal drains under BMC’s control are yet to be covered, sources said, R&B, IDCO and NHAI are yet to submit the details to the Housing and Urban Development department regarding the status of open drains and drains covered or barricaded to prevent mishaps.
“During a meeting chaired by chief secretary PK Jena, the agencies were asked to take measures in this regard and certify the same,” an official from the department said. BMC authorities said steps are being taken to cover the uncovered drains and barricade the natural drains at vulnerable places.