A choked drain at the Vinod Bihari vegetable market. Telegraph picture

Cuttack, Jan. 6: Choked and overflowing drains and unsanitary conditions make shopping at Vinod Bihari vegetable market an unpopular chore.

Nearly 5,000 to 6,000 people depend on Vinod Bihari market — the second biggest market in the city after Chhatrabazar — for their daily vegetable requirement. But unhygienic conditions, choked and overflowing drains are making life difficult for shoppers, vendors as well as residents of the area.

Residents complain about the choked drains from which silt hasn’t been removed for ages and piling garbage. “This is a daily vegetable market, but there are no guidelines for the disposal of waste generated from the market. As a result, all the garbage is thrown along the roadside which ultimately falls into the drains, blocking them,” said local resident Udaynath Dalei (47).

A part of Vinod Bihari vegetable market falls in Ward No. 10 and another in Ward No. 15 (earlier ward no 13). Part of the existing drain channels in Ward No. 15 is linked with the drainage system of Ward No. 10. A major portion of a wide drain at Vinod Bihari and Alamchand Bazaar has been cut off, which hampers fast clearance of drain water. Earlier, the drain was connected to a pond which acted as a natural absorbent of excess water, especially in monsoon.

But ever since the pond was filled by a private builder, the natural path of the drain has been blocked, Dalei added.

It may be recalled that there was water-logging in Vinod Bihari, Alamchand Bazaar, Ganga Mandir and nearby areas for nearly three days after incessant rain in August 2007.

There are other smaller drains in the locality, but the passage of water to the main culvert at Kazi Bazar is slow. Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) has set up a motor pump to discharge excess drain water from the area to the main culvert, said former councillor of Ward No. 13 Rajendra Samal.

The motor pump is operated twice in a day to release drain water to the Kazibazar culvert. The absence of dustbins, however, continues to hinder better management of solid waste.

Water-logging is caused by the lack of a proper drainage linking system. Drains were renovated in 2008, but it failed to solve the problems for residents here, Samal added.

Local councillor Sesadev Nanda said the CMC was aware of the problem. “We are aware of the problem, but as the pond has been filled and as the matter is sub judice with High Court, we are helpless for the time being. We propose, however, to set up a sump for the discharge of drain water,” Nanda said.

The motor pump is being operated 24 hours a day to discharge drain water so that drains do not overflow, he added.