Choked drains and garbage dumped in Kumbhar Sahi area of Cuttack. Pictures by Badrika Nath Das

Cuttack, Oct. 20: Bad sanitation facilities have begun to affect the lives of people staying at Kumbhar Sahi in ward No. 23 of Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC).

Though adequate dustbins have been placed at various places in this area, which has more than 2,500 residents, one can still find garbage scattered on the roads.

“Sanitation is one of the major concerns for the residents here. Though the garbage is being collected on a daily basis, household waste is found dumped on the roadside,” said Ramesh Sahu, 39, a local resident.

Sahu said the civic officials should create awareness among the residents to ensure the garbage was dumped at a particular place, so that it would be easier for them to collect the waste.

Besides this, the lack of a proper drainage system is also adding the local residents’ woes. No steps have allegedly been taken to repair the drains that are collapsing at several points.

“Poor drainage is another problem for the residents here who have to face problems due to waterlogging in the rainy season,” said Narendra Kumar Muduli, 39, another local resident.

Muduli said there were a lot of small drains subsequently connected to the main drain. However, there is a problem in the discharge of waste water at different points because the drains are not desilted on a regular basis.

Though most of drains in the locality are covered with concrete slabs, some remain open. A lot of people dump waste materials in these open drains thus choking the natural flow of water.

Councillor of ward No. 23 Laxmidhar Pradhan could not be contacted despite several attempts.

However, civic officials said there was a lot of emphasis on the collection of garbage and its subsequent disposal in all the wards in the city.

“There has been a considerable improvement in the collection and disposal of solid waste generated from the city. Efforts are also on to address the problems round the clock,” said a CMC official.

The official assured that steps would also be taken to address the various issues of the residents at Kumbhar Sahi.