BHUBANESWAR: Struggling to address urban flooding crisis in the capital city, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) is all set to embark on a drone survey of all vulnerable points and prepare a detailed project report (DPR) to take corrective measures before the next monsoon.
Tender for the survey has been floated and will be finalised within a week, a senior officer of the corporation said. “The survey work along with photography and videography of the locations will be completed within a month of the work being awarded,” he said.
Major part of the exercise includes contour mapping and engineering survey of all vulnerable points as well as the internal drains connecting the main drains. “Technical survey of drains in the vulnerable points will be thoroughly conducted and DPR prepared accordingly for corrective measures,” an engineer of the drainage wing of BMC informed.
The civic body has been grappling with urban flooding crisis for the last seven to eight years. The problem has become acute in Nayapali, Bomikhal, Satya Vihar, Jayadev Vihar, Jagannath Nagar, Patia, Nandan Vihar, ITER areas and dozens of other places in the recent years, thanks to growing concretisation of open spaces, rapid and unplanned constructions, poor enforcement against encroachments with faulty and inadequate drainage system adding to the woes.
Urban flooding has also resulted in multiple fatalities in the last five to six years, the latest being the death of a 10-year-old boy in Unit-III area of the city. The minor was swept away by the gushing waters in an open drain during heavy rains in June this year.
Following large-scale water-logging and urban flooding in the city in 2021, the BMC had identified around 75 locations vulnerable to flooding during monsoon and heavy rains. The number was, subsequently, revised to almost half with the civic body claiming it addressed the problem in many of the identified locations.
However, situation on the ground continued to remain grim. The drone survey, sources said, is expected to help chalk out a comprehensive plan to address the crisis before next monsoon.
