BHUBANESWAR: Relief due to rains last week was short-lived, only for a few hours, but the suffering that followed was prolonged, as several roads across Bhubaneswar remained flooded till late evening.
The downpour once again highlighted the poor drainage system in the City.
Water-logging was witnessed in many areas __ Jaydev Vihar, Cuttack Road, Laxmisagar Square, Vani Vihar, Saheed Nagar, Nayapalli and Siripur.
Every year, during the monsoon, water-logging becomes a major menace in the City. Often, more than two feet of rainwater gets accumulated, making it difficult for the residents to come out of their homes. Last week, following rains, dozens of vehicles, including two and four-wheelers, got stranded in the middle of the roads. The manholes, supposed to drain out rainwater, were overflowing instead, making things complicated.
“The rain has raised the spectre of clogged drains bursting at the seams with dirty water and filth, resulting in pedestrian trauma and traffic jams. Mosquito menace and water-borne diseases add to the problem,” said Premananda Jena, corporator of Ward No.15. He said three slums under his ward were inundated for two days due to clogged drains. “The authorities of both the departments and BMC have been shifting the responsibility of cleaning the drains,” he added.
The City has as many as 10 main drains managed by the Housing and Urban Development, Water Resources departments and the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC).
On the other hand, BMC __ which looks after the internal drainage channels __ is optimistic about finishing de-silting works of all the drains by next month. Last year, the works were delayed by a month, which resulted in large-scale water-logging in the City.
“De-silting works of internal drains in wards 1 to 30 will be taken up next month. We have received proposals for the same from different corporators and they have been placed with the BMC. After approval, work will be started by next month,” said Nanda Kishore Pal, Executive Engineer (division I).
He said around 40 km of drains in the wards will be de-silted and renovated at the cost of approximately `20 lakh.
Similarly, works will also be taken up in the remaining wards. Admitting that water-logging is a perennial problem, Mayor A N Jena said the works will be completed by May 31.
A meeting of all the departmental officers in this connection was held on Monday where the officials were asked to expedite sewerage works.
