Bhubaneswar: Nearly eight months after it was originally planned, the housing and urban development department on Wednesday finally approved the construction of box-type drain in Acharya Vihar that is expected to end waterlogging in this low-lying area.

The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) had in November last year submitted a plan for construction of the box type drain, but the plan failed to proceed due to several administrative glitches. Sources said the plan submitted by the civic authorities was faulty and the cost proposed for the project was too high.

"They had submitted the plan for the box type drain since Acharya Vihar is one of the worst-affected areas. The plan had some errors and the cost was too high. We scrutinized the plan and asked them to resubmit the same after fixing the problems," said an official of urban development department.

Sources said the civic body resubmitted the plan to the government in May this year, which got the nod of the authorities on Wednesday.

The civic authorities will now construct 377 meters of box-type drain at a revised cost of Rs 5.5 crore instead of the earlier proposed Rs 6.10 crore.

Acharya Vihar continues to experience waterlogging with the drains yet to be constructed.

"A mixture of rainwater and wastewater reached a level of at least two feet inside our house. Our furniture got damaged. We always suffer such situation only because of the irresponsible nature of the civic body. I wish they could have constructed the drains earlier," said Mamata Mishra, a resident.

With the approval of the government now, the civic authorities are expected to proceed with the project and likely to save people of this locality from waterlogging in the next monsoon. Sources said after finalisation of the tender, it would take at least four to six months for completion of the project.

According to plan, the drain will help divert the rainwater runs through Madhusudan Nagar, Nayapalli, Vani Vihar, Pandara, Gadakana and Bhoi Nagar from the point at Acharya Vihar.

Mayor Ananta Narayan Jena said they would prioritise the project and asked the drainage division to expedite tendering process.

"The diversion of the drain will help in smooth flow of the rainwater to the drainage channel and finally to the Daya West Canal," said Jena.