Bhubaneswar, June 19: The municipal corporation assured residents to put an end to waterlogging menace at Krishna-Balaram Nagar along the National Highway (NH) No. 5 after they had staged a blockade on Wednesday.

The local residents took to the streets after rainwater had almost drowned the ground floor of many low-lying houses following a downpour. A Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation official said they would build a drain to solve the waterlogging problem.

Mayor Ananta Narayan Jena today told The Telegraph : "The area is facing waterlogging problem as an important drain has been left half-finished by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). The water from the flyover and the two service roads is supposed to flow through two parallel drains, but the one towards Krishna-Balaram Nagar is not completed yet."

"Earlier, we had requested the NHAI to complete the drain job, but they have not taken any step. Had they connected it to the corporation drain, the water could have been diverted to Nayapalli Behera Sahi and ultimately to the drainage channel No. 10," said a civic body engineer.

Councillor of ward No. 37 Nabakishore Behera said: "The issue will be solved as a resident has agreed to donate a 5-feet wide and 50-feet long patch to the corporation to build the drain."

Behera also said the work would start when all the land transfer papers were ready, and it would take one month.

Two years ago, when the flyover was not there, the area in front of the temple used to get waterlogged due to lack of proper drains. "Now, the problem is solved after the construction of a drain. However, on the other side of the NH, the incomplete channel remains a problem," said Jayadev Vihar resident Natabar Panda.

The highway authorities, however, could not be contacted despite repeated attempts.

The mayor said the civic body was on alert to address the drainage problem across the city.

"We are also preparing a proposal to have a separate drainage division so that the grievances are redressed quickly," he said.

The state government has given a circular to every department engaged in the city development activities to include the cost of construction of accompanying drain with each road project.

"We are requesting the NHAI and public works department to honour the state government's directive so that drains are constructed with each road. Even today the city has only 35 per cent roads with accompanying drains. Steps should be taken urgently for better rainwater management,'' said a senior BMC engineer.