ROURKELA: Sundargarh town’s water-logging woes not only remain unresolved but seem to have worsened especially during monsoon. Thanks to the town’s erratic and unplanned drainage system, its 19 municipality wards, housing over 60,000 residents and all district-level offices have been left to suffer.
Last week’s torrential rains exposed the problem and prompted the district administration to direct the Works department to prepare a comprehensive drainage master plan as a permanent solution.
The heavy rain left the Masjidpada area inundated, with storm water entering 30 houses which damaged household articles. Areas including Rangadhipa, Sunaripada, Basant Bagicha, Niranjannagar, Ranibagicha, Adarsha Nagar, Khamaripada, and Luhuradhipa faced hours of waterlogging. Storm water also entered the office of chief district medical & public health officer. Normalcy was restored after fire services and municipality personnel conducted extensive de-watering exercises.
Sundargarh MLA Jogesh Singh blamed the persistent waterlogging on unplanned drainage systems and constructions of residential houses. He said at least nine of the 19 municipality wards are worst affected, and face water-logging and the situation turns grim with longer spell of rain.
A comprehensive plan was attempted in 2017 featuring a ring road with parallel drains along the Ib river for faster storm water evacuation. However, it was abandoned midway, Singh said.
Former councillor of Sundargarh municipality, Himanshu Sekhar Sarangi attributed the problem to poor coordination between the civic body and Works department. Many drains lack proper interconnection and discharge outlets, while encroachment affects several places. While two new storm water drains are partially helpful in evacuation of rainwater, another remains incomplete.
Works department superintendent engineer Amit Tudu said, collector Manoj S Mahajan, after inspecting the flood-hit areas on Sunday, requested a comprehensive drainage master plan.
“A survey will be conducted to connect all drains and create proper discharge points for faster evacuation of rainwater. A detailed project report will be submitted in few months and the ongoing road widening project with parallel drains in front of the office of CDM & PHO would also help improve the situation,” he added.