BHUBANESWAR: Incessant rain coupled with water-logging on Monday triggered a flood-like situation in almost all parts of the Capital bringing normal life and traffic to a grinding halt.A spell of heavy rain under the influence of a well marked low pressure (WMLP) over the Bay of Bengal had thrown normal life out of gear in the city. Several areas and major roads remained water-logged for hours while flash flood conditions hit movement of vehicles. A bus got stuck on the road near Iskcon temple under the impact of flooding.
The torrential rain also exposed the inoperative drainage network of Smart City with many low-laying areas remaining inundated. Though Bhubaneswar Municipality Corporation (BMC) and National Highway Authority of India jointly cleared culverts and drainage system along NH-16 in Nayapalli last week, the service road in front of Iskcon temple again got water-logged on Monday. The situation at Behera Sahi, opposite Iskcon temple, was no different due to heavy influx of rain water.
On the other hand, several low-lying areas including GGP-Canal road, Laximisagar, Vani Vihar Acharya Vihar, Jayadev Vihar, Sailashree Vihar, Old Town, Kalpana Square, Chandrasekharpur and Patia were submerged.The rain also caused traffic lights to stop working at certain inter-sections, while many vehicles, especially buses and cars were stuck leading to traffic jam on a few major roads.
Commuters were also inconvenienced as trees were uprooted at various roads including at Behera Sahi in Nayapalli and AMRI hospital road. While the city was facing a flood-like situation Mayor Ananta Narayan Jena was late to react while BMC Commissioner Krishan Kumar was inaccessible.Later, BMC, in its usual style, announced opening of a control room with helpline numbers 0672-2430038 and 0674-2432281. Over 50 complaints were received by the Corporation from various areas about water-logging and flood-like situation, sources said.
Officials of BMC said 40 officers and 120 staff have been deployed to keep a watch on the situation. This apart, 300 sweepers have been engaged and nine pumps installed at different locations to help residents of the water-logged areas, they said.