Dug up silt from drainage channels remains unattended on the road creating problems for commuters at Tarachandpatna in Cuttack. Picture by Badrika Nath Das

Cuttack, May 11: Cuttack Municipal Corporation’s annual exercise to desilt major drainage channels ahead of the monsoon season has added to the miseries of common man on the street.

Inordinate delay in removal of silt dumped on the road alongside the drainage channels is causing severe inconvenience to a lot of commuters in the city.

“Silt has been dumped right in front of our house and the civic body is yet to take measures to clear the road which is certainly creating problems for us,” said Sidharth Mishra, a resident of Tarachandpatna.

Mishra said that the drain in their locality was cleaned up three days ago and despite several complaints the contractor is yet to clean up the deposited silt from the road. Similar is the condition at several other localities including Mangalabag, Ganga Mandir, Kazi Bazar, Professor Para and other parts of the city.

Local residents said that the overnight rain multiplied the problems, as the silt dug out from the drainage channels have again spilled over on the roads causing problems for the commuters, especially pedestrians.

CMC usually undertakes the annual desilting operations to make the drainage channels ready for the rainy season by May end.

The civic body spends nearly Rs 1 crore towards the desilting the entire drainage systems including the two main storm water channels stretching up to 25km and other branch and surface water channels in the city.

“At present nearly 60 per cent of the branch and surface water channels have been desilted while the entire operation would be completed by May end,” said Kasinath Jena, president of CMC Contractors’ Association.

Jena said that adequate measures were being taken to ensure that the silt dumped on the roadside is cleared within 48 hours of its removal.

However, silt could not be lifted from several areas owing to bad weather conditions following rain yesterday.

Senior officials of CMC on other hand admitted to the delay in clearance of the silt from many localities.

“The rain affected the silt removal process yesterday, while steps were taken to clear the silt from prominent areas in and around Barabati Stadium keeping in view large turnout of spectators from the Indian Premier League Match,” said CMC commissioner Gyanaranjan Das.

Das said that the contractors concerned executing the desiltation work would be asked to clear the excavated silt within the next 48 hours.

Besides, CMC will deduct the transportation charges of the contractors if they fail to clear the roads in the next couple of days, Das added.