BMC employees help a driver pull out his car that got stuck in a drain during Tuesday’s rain in Bhubaneswar. Picture by Sanjib Mukherjee

Bhubaneswar, July 12: Choked drains today caused havoc as a meagre rainfall of 20mm flooded major roads in the capital leading to waterlogging in many low-lying areas of the city.

The stretches near Vani Vihar Square, 120 Infantry Battalion and Unit VIII DAV Public School to Pollution Control Board saw vehicles ploughing through knee-deep water. Parts of Behera Sahi in Nayapalli, Bhimatangi, Soubhagya Nagar (Phase I and II), Baramunda Village, Friends Colony, Bivab Estate, Ratna Villa, Sahid Nagar, Unit III near Exhibition Ground, Big Bazar, parts of Old Town area, Jagamohan Nagar, Gandamunda, Lower PMG Square, Ravindra Mandap and low-lying areas along Cuttack Road, too, suffered the same fate.

More than 6,000 residents living along the new 100-foot road connecting City Women’s Collage and Gandamunda had to wade through knee-deep water due to incomplete work on road and culverts. Moreover, the flood-like flow on main roads created a problem for traffic movement in the city.

Secretary of Bivab Complex Welfare Society J.S. Nayak said: “Snakes have been found from the bathrooms of many houses in the colony thanks to the waterlogging and choked drains. The authorities should speed up the road construction work.”

The problems in the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation area were more. The half-completed drains were posing a multitude of problems for the people. “In prominent area such as Unit VI and VII, many drains are yet to be constructed and the building materials are still lying on the road. After rain, the materials are creating problems for the traffic movement,” said Prabhat Behera, a Unit-VI resident.

Many drainage channels are choked with solid waste and garbage creating problems in low-lying areas such as Laxmisagar, Chintamaniswar and Brahmeswarpatna.

“The uncontrolled flow of rainwater on the main road is also causing damage to the roads. The storm water should pass through drains, but in many areas the drains are yet to be completed,” said Nagendra Bihari Panda, a Jaydev Vihar resident.

Deputy municipal commissioner Priyadarshi Mohapatra said: “We have carried out the desiltation work in many areas. However, many drains still remain choked, as solid wastes, including plastics, are dumped there.”

“The renovation of four major drainage channel has been started by the water resources department,” he said.

In another development, the National Disaster Management Authority has written to the state government with a copy of guidelines for management of urban flooding formulated by the authority.

Vice-chairman of the authority M. Shashidhar Reddy has written a letter to chief minister Naveen Patnaik urging him to take steps to implement the guidelines for management of urban flooding in the state.