A waterlogged street at Pithapur in Cuttack. Picture by Badrika Nath Das

Cuttack, July 14: The municipal corporation is ready to press into service 157 pumps to check waterlogging on streets in various parts of the city during monsoon this year.

“These high power diesel pumps have been earmarked for low-lying areas and areas prone to inundation from overflowing drains. Several of them have been installed permanently. The rest are portable and are being positioned,” municipal commissioner Nihar Ranjan Mohapatra said.

The engineering division has been directed to keep the pumps ready for draining rainwater, if required. Several squads, with one engineer in each, have been assigned to monitor the situation in all the 54 wards and functioning of the pumps.

“Besides, as part of our rain preparedness, we have already removed silt from almost all the major surface water channels to maintain full outflow capacity,” Mohapatra said.

Corporation officials said the main storm water channels in the city had an outflow capacity of 75,000 cusecs per hour. The annual silt removal operation is taken up to maintain this outflow capacity and prevent waterlogged conditions and inundation of homes by overflowing drains after heavy rain.

The civic body had earmarked in its 2013-14 budget Rs 2 crore for removal of silt from the main storm water channels and branch storm water channels vis-à-vis remodelling and renovation.

The exercise covers the entire drainage system comprising two main storm water channels stretching up to 25km, a network of 29km of branch drains and 72km of tertiary drains with surface water channels measuring about 660km.

“Substandard excavation of silt often leads to waterlogged streets due to overflowing drains following rain,” said Sirish Mohapatra, 40, a trader from Badambadi.

The municipal commissioner said: “As a precautionary measure against shoddy removal of silt, corporation engineers have been asked to check the quality of excavation work by the contractors. The engineering division has been asked to withhold payment of bills of contractors where slipshod removal of silt is detected.”

The areas that are being kept under close watch for waterlogging and inundation by overflowing drains are Bidyadharpur, Kanheipur, Nuabazaar, Mahanadi Vihar, Press Colony, Jobra, Sikharpur, Roxy Lane, Khannagar, Badambadi, Rajabagicha Labour Colony, Meria Bazaar, Rousapatna, Gahmandia, Kesharpur, Police Colony, Tulsipur (Tanla Sahi and Bauri Sahi) and so on.