CUTTACK: On Tuesday when rains lashed Cuttack, many parts of the city were waterlogged. Although the water was drained out from many colonies, Kendujhar colony and Shaikh Bazar New colony could not be cleared. Due to a faulty drainage system, people of these two areas have been witnessing waterlogging for several months now.
The residents have alleged that a huge quantity of wastewater collected through different branch drains from Ramagarh, Kafla, Dagarpada, Mansinghpatna, Shaikh Bazar cannot be discharged into the main stormwater channel (MSWC) 1 and is stagnating in drains resulting in inundation of low-lying residential areas of Kendujhar colony and Shaikh Bazar New colony.
They said that while the connecting drain to the main drain at the end of Kendujhar colony is at a higher level, the branch drains coming from Ramagarh, Kafla, Dagarpada, Mansinghpatna and Shaikh Bazar remain at a lower level. Only 10 per cent of the wastewater is passing into the main drain and the rest 90 per cent is stagnating. This results in the inundation of low-lying residential areas of Kendujhar colony and Shaikh Bazar New colony.
“There is knee-deep water stagnating in front of my house at any point in time. Sewage water is often flowing on the streets and entering houses here, making the lives of people miserable. This also leads to mosquito menace,” said Dr Gopal Patnaik, a resident of Shaikh Bazar New colony. He urged the CMC officials to visit the areas to take stock of the situation and address the issues preferably by reconstructing the existing drainage system.
CMC Executive Engineer DR Tripathy said the JICA-funded Integrated Sanitation Improvement Project(ISIP) is now being carried out in the MSWC-1 near Christ College, Chandi Chhak and Khatbin Sahi with cofferdams which is leading to stagnation of water. “The problem will be resolved permanently after implementation of ISIP which is scheduled to be completed before monsoon, ‘’ said Tripathy.