Rainwater stagnates at vacant land because of absence of a proper drainage system, making the area a mosquito-breeding site. Pictures by Badrika Nath Das

Cuttack, Oct. 10: At a time when a large number of housing projects are coming up on the outskirts of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar, many areas under the Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) limits still lack basic civic amenities.

For instance, even basic facilities such as drainage and drinking water continue to elude residents of Balikuda Nuabazar near Gopalpur.

“There is no proper drainage system. Although, a drain has been constructed, it is not enough to discharge the wastewater generated from the locality,” said Sukant Swain, a local resident. The wastewater gets accumulated on vacant lands because of the absence of a proper drainage channel. Besides this, there is acute waterlogging in the area during the rainy season, he added.

“There has been a considerable rise in the mosquito menace here as the rainwater accumulated in the locality in August is yet to be drained out,” said Akshaya Das, another local resident.

Gopalpur and Balikuda are situated near the National Highway (NH)-5 that connects the twin cities of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar. Gopalpur, which was mainly a panchayat along with Subhadrapur, became an urban area in 1997.

Local residents say because of lack of stringent laws many agricultural lands have been converted into homestead lands at Balikuda and Gopalpur, which are now suitable for commercial and residential colonies because of their proximity to Cuttack.

Apart from drainage, drinking water facilities still remain a distant dream as most of the residents are still dependent on tube wells and wells for their water requirements.

The residents of Balikuda also allege that no step is being taken to maintain all-round sanitation in the area, as the garbage is also not cleared on a daily basis.

Similarly, no measure is being taken to clear the unwanted vegetation that has grown in abundance. On the other hand, local councillor Pradeep Behera said adequate measures were being taken to address the problems of the local residents. As the region is a low-lying one, there is accumulation of rainwater. Although, it was proposed to release the excess rainwater into a pond, it has not materialised yet.

“There is a proposal for improving the existing drainage channel and construction of main surface drain. The tender process worth Rs 22 crore has already been finalised and the work is expected to begin soon after the survey,” Behera said.