Water-logging, drainage woes overflow in Kendrapara town

KENDRAPARA: Civic amenities in Kendrapara  town and its nearby areas are in a bad shape and the town has been almost rendered a veritable hell by the 149-year-old civic body’s  habitual neglect in this rainy season.Many of the roads, which were repaired a few months back, have been damaged in the rain that lashed the town a few days ago. The rainwater has accumulated at various places and created havoc for the residents. Roads are in a shambles with the rains transforming small potholes into large craters, creating bottlenecks leading to traffic jams. The  apathy of the civic body is sending jitters down the spine of many locals,  said Akbar Ali, former chairman of Kendrapara Municipality.

The residential office of the District Collector at Garapur on the ouskirts of Kendrapada town has turned into a virtual pool reflecting poorly on the area’s drainage system. Open drains, potholes, massive water-logging in many wards and the mushrooming of unplanned structures have made lives of more than 80,000 people miserable. Drainage has been the main problem here for the last two decades. The civic authorities have still not laid underground sewer lines in the town. Continuous neglect has made several parts of the town prone to water-logging even after a little drizzle in Jayapura, Ranapada, Dilarpur ,Mahipala, Ichapur, Talabaranga, Mirapatana  and other  areas, said Bhikari Mohanty of Ichapur.

Even moderate rainfall for about one hour at a stretch floods houses in the low-lying areas of Ranapada, Fakirabad, Tinimuhani and Badahat. In Fakirabad village within Kendrapara town, some persons illegally constructed houses on a water channel for which the villagers are facing the problem of water-logging, said Mohammad Sahid of Fakirabad.

Contacted, Debaprasad Bal, Executive Officer of Kendrapara Municipality, said, “We are already clearing drains to ensure that there is no water logging. We are also  repairing the 5 km road from Tinimuhaani to the famous Baladevjew temple at Ichapur for the forthcoming Rath Yatra. There are some potholes as a result of the rains, but the number is relatively less. Pumping of rainwater from residential areas is going on by the civic body”.