Patna: Monsoon woes are here to haunt even if the rains are playing truant.
Residents had to wade through water nearly a foot deep near the Mithapur Bus stand even though it rained only a little on Friday. Many complained about the stench from the water stagnant since Thursday. They blamed the Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) for not being able to remove the excess water from the locality even after 24 hours. PMC officials blamed unpaved drains and unplanned construction work.
Vijay Kumar (42), who almost fell off his two-wheeler while crossing the stretch, said waterlogging woes routine in the locality during every monsoon.
"The state government has allowed construction work in unplanned manner in the locality, which has resulted in this kind of waterlogging," he alleged. "The civic body could have taken measures to pump out extra water yesterday itself but they took the initiative only today (Friday). The civic body should be more proactive because it is just the beginning of proper rains here."
Pushpalata Verma (28) also felt uncomfortable crossing the stretch. "Many areas in Kankerbagh get submerged during the monsoon. Residents should brace for the most difficult time of the year because we know the PMC people will not be able to clear the excess water from localities quickly," she said.
Krishna Murari, executive officer of the Kankerbagh circle of the PMC, under which the stretch is, also blamed unplanned construction and lack of a proper drainage system.
Many buildings, including of the Chanakya National Law University, the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), the Chandragupta Institute of Management, Patna, and of the agriculture department, have been constructed on the stretch.
"The engineers have not cared about leaving space for the drainage network," Murari said. "Now, when we are requesting them to give us space for creating the drainage network, they are creating problems. The stretch has mainly unpaved (kachcha) drains while RCC drainage system (with concrete pipes) is required here in this area; only then the waterlogging issue can be addressed properly."
The officer said that on Friday, excess water was removed from the stretch using a jetting machine.
"We are also creating unpaved drain behind the agriculture department's building to remove surplus water from that side. Water accumulated in ward numbers 29, 30 and 31 is not getting a proper channel for getting out due to lack of exit point, which is the main cause of waterlogging," he added.
He claimed de-silting had been carried out in the unpaved drains on the stretch.