Patna, April 29: Gutter water has entered homes of over 500 residents of Kailashpuri locality in Kankerbagh.

With no relief from the trouble for 15 long days, the people today took to the streets, protesting against the lax attitude of the Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC).

Protesters blocked the Kailashpuri Road for hours. They burnt tyres and raised slogans against the PMC for turning a blind eye to the problems of residents.

Vinay Kumar Gupta, a protestor, said: “All manholes here are choked. Accumulated gutter water is not pumped out, as the pump sets here are not functional. No steps have been taken either by the state government or by the PMC to pump out the filthy water. The state government is not at all bothered about the problem here. If the situation is so bad in April, imagine what would be the condition during the rainy season.”

Low-lying areas in the city like Kankerbagh, Bahadurpur and Rajendra Nagar remain waterlogged with knee-deep water flowing into the houses.

Sanju Devi, a housewife, said: “Gutter water has accumulated in my house. My kitchen is on the ground floor, where the gutter water has entered. I have to cook food on the road. How can we stay like this?”

Another resident Sushil Kumar said: “We have committed the biggest mistake by casting our votes in favour of Arun Kumar Sinha, as being the MLA of this constituency he has hardly done anything to treat the ailing drainage and sanitation system. Next time our votes would certainly not go to him.”

The residents shouted slogans against sanitation inspector Ali Rehman of Kankerbagh when he reached the spot to talk to the protesters. Punam Devi, a housewife, asked: “Why are you coming so late? Don’t you know what we are going through for so long? There are many children who live here. What would happen if a disease starts spreading and they are infected?”

After a few hours, PMC executive officer Shyam Kishore Prasad of Kankerbagh area reached the spot and requested the residents to stop the protest.

When The Telegraph asked him why the PMC failed to solve the problem, he said: “Actually everything was fine here but the problem started as the new manhole got clogged and gutter water started to accumulate. The other problem is that the accumulated water is not being taken out regularly. I will take action against those responsible.”