A waterlogged street at Kathagada Sahi in Cuttack on Sunday. Picture by Badrika Nath Das

Cuttack, May 25: The civic body was caught off guard as a sudden bout of low-pressure induced rainfall has exposed its ill preparedness just before the monsoon.

Though today’s rainfall provided a much-needed respite to people reeling from scorching heat for the last few months, it has affected the civic body’s plan to clear silt excavated from various drainage channels in the city.

Bulk of the silt dumped on roadside has again flown into the drainage channels, increasing manifold times the likelihood to create problems in the discharge of wastewater during the rainy season ahead.

Moreover, the silt excavated from the drainage channels, particularly from the main storm water channel No. 1, created much inconvenience to people today.

As the silt has again got drenched in the rain, it will take another couple of days to get it lifted from various parts of the city, said a senior official of the Cuttack Municipal Corporation.

“There is hardly any space for the commuters to walk on the road as it is almost totally covered with silt. The rainfall has compounded the miseries of the common man here,” said Seikh Ismail, a resident of Kesharpur.

Ismail said that the silt was being removed from the main storm water channel No. 1 in a phase-wise manner from Monday and was subsequently being dumped on road.

Vehicular movement from Bajrakabati Canal Road up to Pravat Cinema via Kesharpur and Meria Bazaar was adversely affected today because of non-removal of silt.

Residents of Meria Bazaar, Kesharpur and Samanta Sahi areas faced problems as no space was left to commute on the road.

Though there is a provision to lift the silt excavated from the drainage channel once it gets dried in about 48 hours, no such measure was undertaken by the civic body.

Though sudden rainfall further compounded the miseries of the people of the low-lying areas as those zones remained waterlogged throughout the day.

Acute waterlogging created problems for residents and commuters at Ganga Mandir, Rovers Street, Kathagada Sahi, Patapole, Pithapur, Sikharpur and some other low-lying areas.

A senior official of the corporation also admitted that unexpected depression-induced rainfall has affected the process of silt removal from various parts of the city. However, steps will be taken to clear the road at the earliest, he said.

“We have decided to deploy machines to clear the silt which is causing inconvenience to the commuters as soon as the weather improves,” said municipal commissioner Gyanaranjan Das.

The sluice gates at Khan Nagar have already been opened and the waterlogging situation is being constantly monitored. Motor pumps are also ready to be deployed if the situation worsens, said Das.