Bhubaneswar: The municipal corporation and development authority have decided to act against people constructing houses without proper drainage provision and people found encroaching on drains and obstructing the water flow in the city.

The authorities are acting to prevent incidences of waterlogging, a problem from which Bhubaneswar had been suffering for the past few weeks.

The authorities this time have focussed not only on the waterlogged portions along the national highway, have shifted attention to other parts of the city, including the outskirts.

To begin with, the development authority has decided to restrict development work in the Environmentally Sensitive Zones (ESZ) demarcated in the master plan of the city. The BDA will direct the builders and real-estate developers to stop construction activities without complying with adequate drainage support for their projects.

Sources said it had been decided to invoke the provisions of newly-amended BDA (Planning and Building Standards) Regulations, 2018, regarding development activity near notified wetlands, lakes, reservoir, low-lying areas, environmentally sensitive zone and water bodies.

"According to the amended rules, in the identified areas, the building and layout plan approval can only be given if the overall plan has a sustainable drainage provision. In general, the minimum area for approval in an ESG is one acre with maximum ground coverage of 40 per cent and there should be an approach road of 12 metres width," said an official.

"Environmentally sensitive zones help contain excess rainwater when the urban areas experience rainfall. However, unplanned urban growth in the zones contribute to flood-like situations in the city," said environmentalist Sailabala Padhi.

Besides the efforts of the development authority in keeping a strict vigil on building plan violations, the municipal corporation had conducted a survey to demolish the structures built over the municipal drains. It has also been decided to evict the vendors from the drains.

Mayor Ananta Narayan Jena said he had directed the drainage division to form a separate team to conduct survey throughout the city and submit the list of problematic places followed which eviction committee of the government will be requested to take on the enforcement activities.

"No one will be spared," said Jena.

Jyotsnarani Panda, a resident of Patia, is not very hopeful that the waterlogging problems will actually be solved.

"They always act as if they are making all-round efforts to save the city, but the results is always the same. It will be revealed this time too," he said.