Cuttack, Aug. 2: The municipal corporation will launch a fresh survey to assess waterlogging in several parts of the city.

The survey is designed to identify vulnerable localities, low-lying areas and major streets and thoroughfares that easily get waterlogged.

A team of engineers and councillors of the Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) has also been formed to assess conditions of various wards.

The team will identify problems - defects in drainage systems and faulty road design - that may cause waterlogging during heavy rain.

The move comes after several localities were inundated in the last spell of heavy rains that lashed the city on July 28.

"We have already started to identify and resolve issues that were creating problems in discharge of excess rain water at Kazi Bazar and Odia Bazar," said CMC commissioner Gyana Das.

He said that the corporation was focussed on wards and localities facing waterlogging problems.

Sanitation workers and engineers have already started de-silting major drains in Kazi Bazar that were heavily clogged and led to waterlogging in the surrounding areas.

The civic body has plans to connect the major drain from the Kazi Bazar-Mehendipir area to the main drain at Chandi Mandir Chak via Rovers Street. The plan will be finalised after reviewing the existing infrastructure, space and level of the road.

"We have also decided to take up drain renovation work to check accumulation of rainwater on the Ravenshaw University campus shortly," Das said.

Heavy rain has been forecast in the next 24 hours and senior CMC officials said they were taking adequate steps to increase the carrying capacity of the major drainage systems in the city.

The CMC has also decided to de-silt the main drain from Odia Bazar culvert to the existing drain at Buxi Bazar on a priority basis to check waterlogging at Patapole, Sutahat and a few pockets in Buxi Bazar.

The civic body has also requested Odisha Cricket Association to provide a 125HP generator set for operating two additional submersible high-power motor pumps. It plans to use these pumps near the Matrubhavan sluice gate to flush out excess rainwater directly into the Taladanda canal in case of heavy rains.

The two pumps will be pressed into service in case of rise in the water level in the Kathjodi and Mahanadi rivers.

At present, the CMC has deployed six motor pumps at Matrubhavan to ensure fast clearance of wastewater through the main storm water channel that carries the bulk of the city's wastewater.

Another 145 pumps have been deployed in various parts of the city to clear out rainwater as soon as possible.