Work on drainage channel No. 4 remains incomplete. Picture by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, May 31: Lack of co-ordination between multiple agencies has slowed down drainage renovation work in the city.

The work, according to sources, is running a year late. While the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) manages the smaller drains of the city, the big drainage channels are under the control of the water resources department.

Even as drainage channels No. 1, 2, 3 and 4 are being renovated by the drainage division, Cuttack, channels No. 5, 6, 7 and 8 are yet to be renovated by drainage division, Bhubaneswar. Work on channel No. 10 is likely to be done by the Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA).

Mayor Ananta Narayan Jena admitted to the problem. “People do not understand the technicalities and think the renovation of all the drainage channels is done by the BMC.”

“If things continue this way, we might demonstrate in front of the office of the water resources department with the residents of our ward,” said Amaresh Jena, councillor of ward No. 49.

Water resources secretary Suresh Chandra Mohapatra said: “We hold a co-ordination meeting every month on the progress of the drainage channel renovation work in Bhubaneswar. We are only an executing agency and cannot acquire land. Work has already been done wherever land is available.”

Explaining that the availability of land needs to be expedited for better execution of work, Mohapatra said the BMC authorities, along with the district administration and the BDA, had a major role in ensuring land availability.

BMC commissioner Sanjib Kumar Mishra said the civic body had prepared the land data and submitted it to the district administration so that the acquisition was done on time. “We are doing our bit, but there is a requirement of funds,” he said.

Sources said initially, a Rs 130-crore plan was submitted to the Centre for the drainage channel revival. But only Rs 68 crore was granted by the Centre under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission. New estimates have shown that for repair and renovation, the eight drainage channels will need around Rs 225 crore excluding the land acquisition cost. Since the state government is providing the money now, it comes in phases and the work is getting delayed.

Chief engineer (drainage) R.C. Panda said: “The diversion plan of drainage channel No. 4 is getting delayed near Acharya Vihar. But for the time being, there could be a solution by building appropriate tunnels and a road over it. It will only be possible through proper discussion by all the authorities concerned.”

The diversion of the channel awaits land availability, but the general administration department is yet to provide land. While the renovation plan of the drainage channel No. 9 will be included in phase-II of the drainage renovation plan along with the smaller secondary and tertiary drains, the BDA is likely to take up revival of the drainage channel No. 10 because there is a plan to create a “greater lake area” with recreational facilities along it.