CUTTACK: Even after 24 hours of the small spell of showers, there is no let up in the misery of a sizeable population of Cuttack city as several areas continue to remain waterlogged. All thanks to the Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC)’s failure in mitigating the problem.
Residential areas such as Patapola, Sutahat New Colony, Tanti Sahi, Tala Sahi, Dagbar Sahi, Nua Rausapatna, Meria Bazar Mangaraj Colony are still under water. Residents are still not able to move out of their homes and are forced to remain indoors perched on cots, tables, and chairs as the drain water that entered their houses is yet to recede.
“We had to move all the household articles to safer places and sit on the cot because of knee-deep water inside our house. We are not even able to cook food for the household,” said 55-year-old V Parbati of Sutahat Tanti Sahi.
Nalini Ranjan Nahak of Sutahat Talasahi, who works in a shop at Pithapur, said it is the negligence of the CMC for which citizens are suffering for the last 24 hours. “I parked my bike near Puja Mandap on Sutahat main road, then waded through knee-deep water for about 100 metres to reach home,” said Nahak.
The residents have alleged that the civic body has failed to deploy adequate dewatering pump sets as a result of which the stormwater is not receding from their localities. “We use to experience waterlogging during heavy rain which is usually released through dewatering pump sets. But this time, the stormwater is not receding even though several pump sets have been deployed in our area,” said residents of Patapola area.
CMC commissioner Nikhil Pawan Kalyan shifted the blame to the ongoing JICA project saying the situation arose as drains were blocked for carrying out works.
“Different works are going on under JICA project in the main stormwater channel (MSWC)-1 which has reportedly been blocked by the agency. I have talked with the executive engineer of the project to take necessary steps for the release of the stormwater from the residential areas,”
said Kalyan.