CUTTACK: The inordinate delay in restoring the drains opened for raising the sidewall in different parts of the city has been causing immense hardship to residents and road users.
The open drains continue to pose a threat to them. The residents are facing difficulties as the drains passing in front of their houses have been lying opened for several days.
Sutahat in ward no 18 of Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) is a glaring example which presents the sordid picture of civic neglect.
The slabs were removed from the drain stretching about 200 metre for raising the sidewall on Monday.
Though the contractor executing the work had told the locals that the slabs would be restored within two days, a portion of the drain opened for the purpose is still lying unattended and construction work is yet to be commenced.
“We are facing a lot of difficulties in respect of going in and out of our house as the drain is lying opened for the last three days,” said a local resident Trilok Ranjan Dash.
“I had to keep a wooden plank on the opened drain to take my ailing father to hospital,” said another resident Amulya Senapati.
CMC Executive Engineer Bhagyadhar Sahoo, however, said he is unaware of any drain work being carried out by the civic body in the locality. It is being done by Cuttack Sadar block administration.
Sources said the State government in 2018 had provided Rs 30 crore to Cuttack Sadar block to carry out different improvement works in all the 59 wards of CMC under Unnati Yojana.
Even the CMC engineers, who used to maintain the drains across the city, were not consulted before carrying out the project.
Sadar BDO Rajib Lochan Parida said he would able to comment on the issue after reviewing the project with the block engineers.
Meanwhile, alleging inordinate delay in implementation of Unnati Yojana, substandard works and massive corruption, former corporator Arun Sethi has demanded a Vigilance probe into the matter.