Bhubaneswar: The spectre of waterlogging is haunting civic bosses here as the local meteorological centre on Wednesday predicted heavy rainfall from Friday.

Alarmed at the forecast, officials of the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) are on alert to prevent recurrence of waterlogging in various parts of the city, mainly on national highway No. 5.

The Met department has said that that heavy rain is likely to lash the state, including Bhubaneswar, from July 6 following the formation of a low pressure over the Bay of Bengal. At present, the cyclonic circulation is lying over the northwest Bay of Bengal along the Bengal coast. The low-pressure is expected to intensify around July 6.

Though the civic body claims that it is prepared to address any eventuality arising out of a heavy downpour, residents fear a repeat of the severe waterlogging situation near the Isckon temple on national highway No. 5.

"It is sheer failure of the administration that the waterlogging situation is recurring on the national highway. Last year, the height of the clogged water was two feet, this year it is three to four feet. They never took the matter seriously and we have lost faith in them," said Nayapalli resident Gopal Hota.

Responding to the apprehensions of residents, mayor Ananta Narayan Jena assured that waterlogging situations along the highway and other parts of the city would be managed properly.

"I personally went to the spot on Tuesday, interacted with the people and officials and directed them to take action," said Jena.

A special joint squad of the Bhubaneswar Development Authority, municipal corporation and National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) on Wednesday carried out enforcement activities in the vicinity of the Iskcon temple to fix drainage issues. Officials have swung into action following a directive of municipal commissioner Krishan Kumar.

Additional commissioner, BDA, Bhabani Shankar Chayani, who led the joint squad, said: "The mouth of the siphon under the flyover for discharge of rainwater near Iskcon temple has been widened. It was a major cause of waterlogging in the area. a major problem has been resolved on Wednesday."

He said they had excavated the blockage so that more water could be cleared after the siphon splits into two branches. "From the preliminary study, it was evident that while one branch of the drain is functioning, the other one was blocked completely," he added.

The enforcement squad also removed temporary shops chocking drains near the highway. The signboards jamming the drain and illegally parked vehicles were removed during the drive on Wednesday.