A drain in Unit VIII area where bushes have grown because of poor maintenance, and (below) a sewer near Mahatma Gandhi Marg awaits repair. Pictures by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, May 23: Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) authorities have gone into an overdrive to ensure that the city’s clogged internal drains are cleared before the arrival of the monsoon.

With just about two weeks left for the monsoon to hit the city, BMC officials are hopeful that all the drains would be de-silted by June 15 to facilitate smooth discharge of rainwater and make the next couple of months hassle-free for citizens.

Recent thunder squalls accompanied by heavy showers have created large-scale drainage problems in many areas of the city. Contractors in 20 wards are yet to start the de-silting work.

As a result, residents fear that they may have to wade through knee-deep water this monsoon if the drains are not cleared fast.

“De-silting work should have been complete by May, a month before the arrival of the monsoon. But even now one-third of the 60 wards are yet to be covered. If the work starts now then the target cannot be achieved. Although in many wards de-silting and renovation work of the drains are on, the progress is very slow,” said Nrupesh Nayak, councillor of ward No. 58.

“It has rained a lot this summer. The thunder squalls have exposed the lacunae of the civic authorities’ preparedness for rain,” Nayak added.

Councillor of ward no. 48 Kishore Kumar Mohanty stated that the drain renovation work in Goutam Nagar and Buddha Nagar area was in process and it would be finished before monsoon.

However, councillor of ward no. 48 Amaresh Jena had a different story to tell.

“The BMC authorities should analyse why contractors did not apply for the job of de-silting. In fact, the tender price was not commensurate with the market rates and hence the contractors were not interested. Ultimately it’s the people who would suffer,” said Jena.

On the other hand while focusing on de-silting smaller drains, the BMC is ignoring the cleaning work of major drainage channels.

“The drainage channel passing through my ward is left in a mess during the monsoon. If the bed of the channel is not clean then the water coming from the small drains cannot pass through, creating a flood-like situation. But there is confusion regarding cleaning of the channel as the BMC and the drainage division under the water resources department are not sure who will execute the work. The renovation plan is a different thing, but regular de-silting of the bed is badly needed,” Jena added.

A senior BMC officer, however, blamed the attitude of the people for clogged drains. He said: “The small drains get clogged as solid wastes are dumped into them. People’s civic sense needs to change first. Dumping waste materials in the smaller drains should be stopped so that rain water can pass.”

Last year there was a proposal to create awareness on the problems created by dumping solid wastes into smaller drains but the campaign was never launched by the BMC.

T.B.K. Shrof, an engineer, said: “The de-silting work will definitely be over by June 15. We will apprise the corporation about the wards where contractors have not taken up de-silting work so that a suitable decision can be made by the councillors.”