Cuttack, July 12: The Cuttack Municipal Corporation’s efficacy to check waterlogging in and around the city has apparently been undercut by intermittent showers over the past fortnight. Rainwater still stands for hours on roads, raising apprehensions of inundation of homes.

“Even if it rains for half and hour, it becomes difficult to step out of our houses. We always pray that there are no continuous spells of showers, as rainwater flowing on the streets and entering our houses have become a natural phenomenon,” said Krushna Mohan Panda, a Mission Road resident.

Adding to the woes of the citizens is the natural-drainage system. Apart from a low-lying neck of land to the east, the city is surrounded by Ring Road over the embankment along the Mahanadi river in the northern side and Kathajodi river on the southern side. Within it, there is a slight fall throughout the city from west to east and the ground also slopes gently towards the city centre, away from the northern and southern embankments.

“Although the slopes are negligible, they are enough to make cause problems in the natural drainage channel. Apart from that, in many areas rainwater does not run off, but stands on the ground,” an officer said.

“Rainwater stands for hours over Badambadi road even after a 20-minute shower. People have to wade through water to reach the bus stand and shops,” said Sirish Mohapatra, a shopkeeper.

The situation, even after a short spell of rain, is similar in Sikharpur, Deulasahi, Badambadi, Mahtab road, Khannagar, Bajrakabati road, Professor Pada, Badambadi, Ganga Mandir, Kazi Bazar, Binodbihari, Jobra, Rausapatna, Patapole, Sutahat, Oriya Bazar, Khatbin Sahi, Stuartpatna, Kanika Road, Jhola Sahi, Pithapur, Jhanjirmangala and Rajabagicha areas among others.

“Waterlogging has become inevitable, as drains are not yet ready to accommodate the surface water,” said Dilip Barik, a resident of Khannagar.

A corporation officer said: “The problem persists in several areas because either the tertiary drains are at a lower level than the branch drains or the branch drains are at a lower level than the main drains.”

The city’s surface water channels measuring up to 660km includes two main storm water channels stretching up to 25km, a network of 29km of branch drains and 72km of tertiary drains.

Mayor Saumendra Ghosh attributed the waterlogging to faulty repair and reconstruction work undertaken by the roads and building department. “The road work had apparently been done without conforming to the storm water drainage requirements. Waterlogging in stretches between Bajrakabati road and Khannagar is the result of such faulty road-laying,” the mayor told The Telegraph.