Vehicles wade through inundated Cuttack street. Picture by Badrika Nath Das

Cuttack, May 20: The Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) was caught off guard by yesterday’s thunder squall that has led to severe waterlogging in several areas of the city.

The problem is acute in Badambadi, Khannagar, Kazi Bazar and Stewart Patna. The civic authorities struggled for several hours to drain out the water.

“Waterlogging has become a common feature as no concrete step is being taken to improve the city’s drainage system. As a result, people of low-lying areas suffer the most during monsoon,” said Abhisekh Sahu (31), a resident of Khannagar.

Besides, residents of various apartments in Khannagar were seen struggling to step out of their homes as rainwater flowed on the road till afternoon today.

“This has been the situation for the past five years and no step is being taken by the officials to solve these issues,” said advocate and joint secretary of Shyam Kunj apartment, Sandip Parida (45).

Parida said CMC officials had assured to initiate steps to improve the drainage system which is as good as non-existent. But more than four years have passed and there had been no improvement in the situation.

Every year CMC releases the excess water that flows on the main road right in front of the apartment by using motor pumps. But no such step was taken today to drain out stagnant water, Parida added. Similarly, a lot of passengers and local residents suffered because of waterlogging in and around the Badambadi bus stand area today.

“It was only a thunder squall that lasted for more than five hours. One can imagine the situation during the monsoon when waterlogging assumes serious proportions in the city,” said Nagendra Pradhan (55), another local resident.

Officials of the CMC said that adequate steps were taken to deal with waterlogging caused by the heavy rain that hit many parts of the state including Cuttack.

“Waterlogging is a common feature in Cuttack because of its low topography. However, the emergency cell was on alert and all the three sluice gates were opened to release excess drain water,” said CMC secretary Ashutosh Samal.

“A comprehensive contingency plan has already been prepared to deal with such situations before the onset of monsoon. Moreover, we are taking immediate steps to flush out excess water after we receive complaints in this regard,” Samal added.

Residents of Cuttack had faced similar problems because of acute waterlogging in 2007. City residents have demanded concrete steps to complete the desiltation of major drains before the onset of monsoon.