Streets inundated in Cuttack after rain lashed the city in last 24 hours. Pictures by Badrika Nath Das

Cuttack, July 17: Heavy rain during the last 24 hours have thrown normal life out of gear in the Millennium City. Most of the damage was caused by the two-hour spell of rain yesterday.

Several areas of the city witnessed acute waterlogging. People who suffered the most belonged to Mangalabag, Badambadi, and Khannagar areas.

“This is for the first time that the city has witnessed such a downpour this monsoon. Within two hours, many areas became waterlogged causing much inconvenience to us,” said Ritesh Das, 29, a resident of Mangalabag.

Das said that waterlogging had become a routine affair in the city, but no concrete measures were being taken by the civic authorities to address the problem.

Similar was the condition in Badambadi, Mehendipir, Rovers’ Street, Khatbin Sahi, Kazi Bazar, Vinod Behari vegetable market and Balu Bazaar.

“The situation continues to be the same here year after year. The drains have also become old and the level of the main drain is much high than the sub-drains through which wastewater flows from the locality,” said Seikh Babu, 40, a resident of Rovers’ Street.

“Many areas remained waterlogged mainly due to clogged drains which are not being cleaned on regular basis, especially during the rainy season. Similarly, the desiltation programme has not been carried out properly. As a result, drains in the locality are unable to release the rainwater,” said Satyajit Sah, 33, another resident.

Local residents said rainwater remained accumulated creating stagnant pools on the roads. But residents in certain areas breathed a sigh of relief as the rainwater, accumulated on roads, subsided within two hours of the shower.

“We had started removing our household articles in view of the waterlogging on the road. However, water started receding after one and half hour of the thundershower,” said Kasim Khan, 31, a resident of Mehendipir area.

According to Khan, this year there has only been a slight improvement in the monsoon management preparations by Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC).

Though the city has recorded around 82mm of rainfall in the last 24 hours, there was no major complaint regarding waterlogging, said an official of the CMC.

However, the official said that accumulation of water on the road is mainly due to faulty repair and reconstruction work by the roads and building department.