(Top) A broken cover of a drain, and (above) a choked drain at Tarachandpatna New Colony in Pithapur area in Cuttack. Pictures by Badrika Nath Das

Cuttack, Jan. 17: Access to basic civic amenities, including better sanitation measures and drainage system, has been a distant dream for the residents of Tarachandpatna New Colony in Pithapur area.

Lack of adequate measures to maintain cleanliness and sanitation in the area has led to resentment among the residents.

There are no dustbins and allotted dumping space. As a result, one can find garbage dumped along roadsides. Moreover, the sweepers do not clean up the area regularly. Apart from this, there is no proper arrangement for free passage of water through drains and sub-drains within the locality as the main culvert is choked due to non-removal of silt and garbage. Similarly, no step has been taken to repair the drains which have collapsed at many places in the area.

“There has been no repair of the drain and the main culvert at Pithapur connecting with the Bajrakabati surface drain via Nimasahi and Kesharpur. Despite filing several complaints, no step has been taken by the Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC),” said president of Tarachandpatna residential committee Lalatendu Patnaik.

As waterlogging is a common feature at Tarachandpatna under ward no. 23, the residents apprehend to face problems during monsoon.

“Every year, we face problems due to acute waterlogging as the level of the colony is low compared to the road level. As a result, drain water from Jhangirmangla and nearby area enters our homes. It takes hours for discharge of the water from the locality,” said another local resident Uma Shankar Mishra.

“The culvert at Pithapur is in bad condition and needs immediate repair. Though the CMC officials had assured to look into the matter, no step has yet been taken,” said local resident Suresh Sharma.

Apart from Tarachandpatna, waterlogging has become a major problem at Jholasahi and Bhagatpur under the same ward.

“Of late, steps are being taken to repair the drain. We hope that the problem would be sorted out this year,” said Bhagatpur sahi adhikari Ranjit Biswal.

“Efforts are on to maintain sanitation in the ward and things would certainly improve after the introduction of mechanised sweeping soon. Moreover, we will provide dustbins as per the requirements in each area within the ward,” said local councillor Laxmidhar Pradhan.