Bhubaneswar: Ramesh Pati, 66, a retired government servant, on Saturday cursed his fate as to why he purchased a 2,400sqft plot on the city outskirts along the national highway near Jatni. His house has been remained waterlogged following the incessant rain for the past two days.

Almost all houses that have come up on the road from Tamando to Khurda, about 22km from Bhubaneswar, are waterlogged or submerged.

Pati said: "After my retirement in 2010, I had purchased a plot here as I did not able to get a flat in Bhubaneswar due to lack of finance. While purchasing the plot, I never thought that such a situation would come up. This is for the first time, my house has become submerged."

He said that earlier water used to flow away as there was no man-made obstacle. "People have built their houses and even some of them have erected boundary walls. These things have led to the obstruction of the free flow of water. Besides, the lands are lower that the highway. All these are leading to the submergence of the area," Pati said.

These lands are agricultural land, and local villagers have sold these to the prospective buyers without converting it to homestead land and taking approval from the higher authorities. "These areas have recently come under the Bhubaneswar Development Authority, and I don't see any scope of development of these areas in the next few years," Madan Mohanty, a neighbour of Pati.

Even various four-wheeler showrooms that have come up on the outskirts along the highway remain submerged. Water was flowing on the highway making it difficult to ply there.

"There is no problem for trucks and buses to run on the road. But when it comes to small cars, it becomes a difficult task to negotiate on the road," said Tamando resident Purna Patra.

However, the local people were seen guiding the small vehicles to negotiate the road, so that they did not skid from the highway. Even the roads connecting to the Gita Engineering College from the highway was also cut off, making it difficult for the students to reach schools. Besides, the people from areas such as Madanpur have also found it tough to reach their houses.

"Almost all connecting roads from the highway have been submerged or disconnected by flash flood," said Khurda resident Leena Routray.