Bhubaneswar, May 20: The municipal corporation has decided to finish de-siltation of secondary and tertiary drains in the city before mid-June and expedite renovation of drainage channels before monsoon arrives.

The civic body took the decision at a meeting of officials here today where executive engineers of drainage division were present. The corporation convened the meeting today, a day after the Election Commission of India lifted the model code of conduct.

Every year, the corporation is criticised for waterlogging and flooding in many areas due to poor drainage.

Besides, the departments usually fail to finish the work on time and this inconveniences people.

With the meteorology department forecasting the arrival of monsoon around the middle of June, the civic authorities have started speeding up the drain-cleaning work and other sanitation activities such as cleaning temporary garbage dumping points inside residential areas that usually create problem for residents.

A senior corporation official said such work is usually undertaken much before monsoon sets in. However, the elections delayed the process this time.

“With the partial relaxation of the model code of conduct on April 30, we had already begun some of the cleaning work. Today’s meeting was to check the progress of the work,” said an official.

City health officer Chandrika Prasad Das said the commissioner had instructed the officials to ensure that contractors carried out the cleaning job fast and finish it within the first two weeks of June.

Besides, the BMC commissioner asked the executive engineers of the drainage division to submit progress reports regarding renovation after two weeks.

In many areas, encroachment and lack of maintenance of the natural drainage channels create waterlogging problems during the monsoon. One such channel passing near Acharya Vihar creates problems every year. The civic authorities had started a survey about the encroachment this year just after the model code was partially lifted.

“We hope most of the work will be finished in time. However, renovation of the drainage channels will take some more time,” said additional municipal commissioner Krushna Prasad Pati.