Cuttack: Residents of various waterlogged areas on Thursday joined a protest organised by Congress activists and forced civic officials to walk through sewage to teach them a lesson.

Congress activists had gathered at Kazi Bazaar, near Bhaktamadhu Vidyapith and Rovers Street to protest against the Cuttack Municipal Corporation's (CMC) "indifference" towards the sanitation problems of wards 13, 14 and 19.

"Local people came out spontaneously to support our agitation by forcing the Cuttack Municipal Corporation officials to get down from their vehicles and walk through the drain water overflowing onto the streets," city Congress president Md Moquim said.

The protest was withdrawn after deputy civic commissioner Manoj Kumar Behera assured the protesters that the problem of overflowing drains would be resolved by March end.

City health officer Manoranjan Samantaray, who had accompanied Behera, said: "All steps will be taken to ensure proper sanitary condition in the localities and the pipelines will also be repaired."

The people of the localities were peeved as the municipal corporation had allegedly turned a blind eye to the problem of overflowing drains despite repeated complaints.

"The civic body had not initiated measures for renovation of the drainage channels despite repeated complaints. All the tertiary drains have remain clogged for long time now," said secretary of Kazi Bazaar Puja Committee P.K. Sinha.

Mayor Meenaksee Behera said: "Steps will be taken to stop overflowing of drains in these areas at the earliest."