For urban development bosses, who are currently brainstorming over how to make Ranchi a smart city, Pandra should be on the must-visit list.
Around 8,000 residents of Panchsheel Nagar, Shanti Nagar, Bank Colony, Shahdeo Nagar and various other neighbourhoods were forced to leave their homes on Friday after an hour's heavy rain pushed Pandra underwater.
A 2km stretch of Ratu-Pandra Road (from Bank of India intersection to Panchsheel Nagar), which is a part of NH-75, sported knee-deep water, triggering severe traffic congestion. While children skipped school and adults office, neither traffic cops nor civic workers turned up to clear the snarl and waterlogging.
"The rain started around 8am and within 30 minutes, our area was flooded. We waded through knee-deep water inside the house. We didn't get enough time to shift belongings to higher ground. My auto and four bikes on the premises have choked on rainwater. The engines refuse to start," said Chhotu Sahu of Panchsheel Nagar.
Sujit Kumar, who runs a grocery store in the same area, rued losses. "I open my shop around 10am. The rain flooded the area before that. My grain stocks have been damaged," he said.
This sinking feeling isn't new for the people of Pandra.
"Flooding has been signature monsoon for a decade now. We have approached the RMC umpteen times and were promised reprieve every time. The situation hasn't changed. Such neglect makes us feel orphaned, as if we are not a part of this city," said Rajat Kumar Singh, a resident of Shanti Nagar who couldn't attend office on Friday.
In some parts of Shanti Nagar, the water level was waist-deep.
Vivek Kumar, a local resident, said the flooding problem was worse this year than previous years. "Today (Friday) is the third time this monsoon that we have been marooned. On Raksha Bandhan (in August), we had faced inundation and again a few days later. It will take us more than a week to clean and dry our houses and belongings. Many people draw water from wells, which have become polluted. People will start falling ill," he said.
Pandra falls under Ward 34 of the RMC and is represented by councillor Ramadhir Singh, who pointed out lack of drainage facility in the area.
"Earlier, there used to be a rivulet here called Chhoti Nadi. It carried rainwater from Pandra, Bajra, Itki and Piska More to Kanke Dam. Over the years, the rivulet has shrunk owing to rampant illegal constructions. Now, in some places, it is barely 3ft wide," Singh said.
Asked what steps he had taken to help people out of this mess, the councillor said he had secured a corpus of Rs 3.59 lakh last year to solve the inundation problem at Panchsheel Nagar.
"But, the state government stopped the work. Officials said the government had sanctioned funds for construction of drainage and sewerage network across the city and hence, no separate project was required. I had even requested urban development minister C.P. Singh to allow separate drain construction in Panchsheel Nagar, but he showed little interest," the councillor claimed.
Pandra is not the only victim when rain pelts Ranchi. On Ratu Road, a graveyard was flooded. Traffic on Circular Road left commuters hassled for the better half of the day, thanks to overflowing drains in the area.
"Every other day, different agencies dig up roads and block drains. So, when it rains, Circular Road becomes Circular pond," said Sudhir Verma, who owns a men's wear showroom.
Urban development minister Singh admitted that the situation in some parts of Pandra was "grim" owing to poor drainage. "But unfortunately, there is no immediate solution. We have launched a drain and sewer construction project, and affected areas will be covered in the first phase," he said without mentioning when.
