BMC, Works dept faultline inundates Jayadev Vihar

BHUBANESWAR: Torrential rains that lashed the state capital for around two hours brought the city to its knees again and exposed the shoddy planning and lack of coordination between administrative departments and Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC).

Arterial roads were flooded as 126 mm of rain pounded the city in the afternoon between 2 pm and 4 pm. NH flyovers, Iskcon temple road as well as Bomikhal and Jayadev Vihar-Nandankanan roads witnessed heavy traffic jams due to waterlogging.

The plight of residents in the Jayadev Vihar area was pathetic as drain no 4 overflowed flooding houses in prime locality. Faulty planning by the works department and the indifference of BMC led to large-scale inundation of the area. Sources BMC admitted that poor drainage planning led to flooding in ward no 26 of Jayadev Vihar after a gap of five years. It was the result of the absence of coordination between BMC and Works department.

“We had suggested the Works department engineers divert the drain along the left-parallel road towards Jayadev Vihar-Nandankanan road near Hotel Sandy’s Tower. Without paying heed to us, its engineers connected it to another drain in Salia Sahi resulting in an excessive flow of stormwater that flooded the Jayadev Vihar area. If the issue is not addressed, things will get worse in the event of more rain,” sources said. Parts of Nayapalli, Jharpada, Dumduma, Patrapada and Jagamara also turned into swamps. “If I had not reached home on time, my elderly mother wouldn’t have been alive,” rued a local in front of mediapersons after rain water gushed into his house.“Waterlogging has become a common affair. Is this the smart city they are talking about?” lamented Sagar Das, a resident from Soubhagya Nagar.

Water pumps deployed by BMC and fire services personnel proved highly inadequate, leaving residents in low-lying areas to fend for themselves. Repeated lightning strikes that continued for over an hour confined people to their houses. Clogged drains started overflowing and inundated streets and residential colonies exposing poor urban governance and the defunct drainage network of the city that had bagged the Best Smart City award in the eastern region from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs recently.

BMC officials admitted the comprehensive drainage master plan for the capital city is yet to be executed despite the fact that the necessity was felt several years back to deal with waterlogging in the city. Following heavy downpour, an opera tent erected in the Hatiasuni area was uprooted. Trees were also uprooted in parts of the city including Unit VIII.

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