Cuttack, June 16: The first spell of heavy rain this morning exposed how unprepared the municipal corporation was to tackle waterlogging in several areas of the city.

The Cuttack Municipal Corporation was caught off guard as several localities were waterlogged following the shower. The situation had assumed serious proportions following heavy rainfall last evening, as there were problems in the free flow of excess rainwater through the main drainage channels.

Several low-lying areas, including Pithapur, Jhola Sahi, Jobra and Mehendipeer, were waterlogged in the shower that had lasted for an hour last evening.

Senior civic officials admitted that there were problems in the discharge of the excess rain and wastewater due to blockages because of the ongoing construction of the integrated sanitation project undertaken by the Japan International Co-operation Agency (Jica).

"The main culvert facilitating the flow of wastewater from Samrat Talkies and connecting to the main storm water channel No. 1 was damaged during the Jica project, and this led to waterlogging in several localities," said the civic body's assistant engineer D.R. Tripathty.

The main drain near Khatbin Sahi, Sutahat as well as the portion near Matrubhavan is blocked to facilitate repairs of the existing drain up to Gosala. The corporation officials expected that all blockages would be cleared and the accumulated water would recede tonight.

A senior official said the process of installing of 12 high-power motor pumps to drain out excess water was complete. However, the waterlogging is likely to assume serious proportions with no concrete measures having been taken by the civic body to ensure the free flow of water through the existing drainage channels.

"The de-silting operation has been done in a haphazard manner as the main drainage channel is choked, and this will subsequently create problems in the discharge of excess rainwater," said Badam-badi resident Pradip Sahoo.

Local residents feel that there are problems in the discharge of the excess rainwater because several points of the main storm water channel No. 1 remain blocked.

"The Jica project is to be blamed for the acute waterlogging," said Jhola Sahi resident Dilip Bhuiyan. He said the corporation was running behind schedule, because it was still renovating the surface drains while nothing had been done to de-silt the major channels.