The waterlogged Deer Park in Cuttack. Picture by Badrika Nath Das

Cuttack, July 23: Last week’s occasional spells of shower have left several areas of the city, including the Deer Park, inundated.

Waterlogging has become a common problem in the Deer Park every monsoon. Though the civic body has claimed to have made all-round development inside the Deer Park last year, it is yet to address the waterlogging issue.

“The Deer Park continues to reel from neglect as the civic body has turned a blind eye on its development,” said Sushant Muduli, a resident of Kesharpur.

A high-level committee, comprising forest officials and wildlife experts, had conducted a detailed study on the existing infrastructure and problems of the Deer Park, including accumulation of rainwater, on August 16 last year.

The four-member committee, headed by S.K. Sinha, director (operations) of the Odisha Forest Development Corporation, had also stressed on better day-to-day management of the park.

Built in 1981 on an area that is more than two acres, the Madhusudan Nagar Deer Park began its journey in 1981 with only six deer. But, the park is now overpopulated with 143 deer.

There has been acute waterlogging inside the park because of absence of proper drainage channels. As a result, the animals are struggling to find a dry patch as bulk of the area inside the park remains waterlogged.

There also remains a possibility that the animals may fall sick after consuming the accumulated water, which usually takes four to five days to clear.

A senior official of the Cuttack Municipal Corporation has, however, said that a proposal for ensuring fast disposal of rainwater inside the park had already been mooted.

“We will shortly initiate measures to check accumulation of rainwater inside the park. The administrative approval for implementing various proposals there has already been cleared,” said municipal commissioner Nihar Ranjan Mohapatra.

Mohapatra also said that there was accumulation of water for days together because of a natural downward slope on both sides of the deer park. Efforts will be initiated for levelling of the slope to prevent waterlogging in future.

The problems in the existing drainage channels near the park will also be reviewed, the commissioner said.