Bhubaneswar, Aug. 25: Two months after the drainage division started to operate from the municipal corporations office, drain management is emerging as a priority for the civic body.

The drainage division was supposed to start operations a year earlier. While some areas are benefiting from their work, residents in the city's low-lying areas have complained that not enough was being done and waterlogging during monsoon remains a big problem.

Civic body officials said in the first phase the drainage division had taken up several drain-related works, which includes construction of culverts at Saheed Nagar, Acharya Vihar, Jayadev Vihar and Nayapalli. It has also begun construction of drains along National Highway 5 at Patia, Behera Sahi, Tarini Basti, Badei Tank, Baramunda, IRC Village, Nayapalli and Aiginia.

Nayapalli resident Asit Sahani appreciated that the civic body was constructing and repairing drains in the area.

"A few localities here face waterlogging during rains. Rainwater stays accumulated on the roads for days. I hope the new drains will solve these problems," said Sahani, a corporate employee.

Mayor Ananta Narayan Jena said that drainage division was functioning smoothly and had taken on a number of drain-related projects across the city. "The tenders for construction of culverts and drains have been invited in two phases. The work on the first phase has been almost completed while work on the second phase will begin shortly," said Jena.

In July, the division had begun constructing drains in ward Nos. 12, 17 and 18. Four major drains were built and repaired in these three wards, all of which fall in the first phase of the project.

 

"We will accomplish the task in a phased manner. The process is easy and transparent. In the current phase, we spent nearly Rs 1.46 crore to complete the task of drain construction," said a civic body official.

People living low-lying areas such as Acharya Vihar, Old Town and GGP Colony, however, are complaining that the civic body is prioritising the areas where there were fewer drain-related issues over the localities where the problem is bigger. GGP Colony resident Gayadhar Swain said: "It is getting difficult for us to move around in the locality because of waterlogging caused by the absence of proper drains."

Overflowing drains remain a pain for residents of Samantarapur in Old Town. The main road as well as vacant plots here remained submerged in rainwater forcing people to take to balancing perilously on benches to reach their destination. The area falls in ward No. 59. "We placed benches to walk over the inundated roads. Something needs to be done quickly to resolve this problem," said Nihar Sahu, a student who lives in the area.

Asked about construction of drains in the low-lying areas, a civic body official said these localities had already been identified and tenders floated for work. The work will be done in the next phase, he said.

Overflowing drains are a grim reality for residents who live near the Saheed Nagar flyover, which has been under construction over the past three years. During heavy rain, rainwater even overflows into homes and the roads are waterlogged for days. "We are constructing the flyover on a war footing. The work on the Rasulgarh side will be completed shortly after which the civic body may continue with their drain construction," said chief engineer (roads) O.P. Patel.

Local resident Harapriya Nayak said they had been facing these problems for a long time. "The officials have constructed one part of the drain a few months ago and then stopped the work. This has led to waterlogging during heavy rain when the water, finding no way out, flows into our houses. The stagnant water emits foul smell," said Nayak.

To streamline drain management in the city, the state government plans to send officials of the works department to Mumbai. There they will undergo training in urban drainage management at the Indian Institute of Technology, Powai. "The officials will learn new techniques of drain management in urban areas. The training programme will be held on three days from September 15 in Mumbai," said a source.