CUTTACK: Facing backlash for its failure to swiftly clear waterlogging which reportedly worsened due to clogged drains, following the heavy downpour on Tuesday, the Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) has constituted a sanitation committee to take stock of the drain desilting work in the city.
The rains in the city on Tuesday left several residential and market areas severely waterlogged. However, what irked the local residents was that the civic body could not effectively clear the waterlogging even on the next day despite deployment of dewatering pumps, since most drains were clogged.
After facing backlash, the CMC on Friday constituted a sanitation committee comprising two executive engineers, junior engineers, ward officer and sanitary inspectors to oversee the drain desilting works in the city. CMC commissioner Anam Charan Patra has instructed the committee to inspect and submit a detailed report on progress of the drain desilting work by April 30.
However unconvinced by this move of the civic body, local residents alleged it is a mere eyewash. City-based senior advocate Amarendra Mohanty alleged the CMC engineers and ward officers were hand-in-glove with the three outsourced manpower agencies engaged in sanitation and desilting work and passing their bills without inspection, supervision or physical verification.
“This apart, while all the sanitary inspector posts are lying vacant, the multi-purpose health workers are executing the job in their absence. Under these circumstances, how can we expect a real report on the drain desliting work?” he questioned.
He further suggested involving engineers of other departments besides local corporators to get a genuine insight into the situation. A corporator said there are several instances where BMC engineers are passing false bills to the outsourced agencies without execution of work.
Citing an instance, he said the CDA locality has very few drains but despite that, the CMC has supposedly engaged tractors for removing silt. “It should be investigated. Similarly, though there is no drainage system in ward no 56, 57, 58 and 59, bills have been passed for drain desilting works,” he further alleged.
CMC commissioner Patra could not be reached for a comment on the matter.