Cuttack: Severe waterlogging conditions following overnight rain left nearly two lakh people trapped at home in several parts of the city on Saturday.
Overflowing channels of surface water drainage system entered homes, but showed no signs of receding and forced people to face miseries not experienced since the super cyclone of 1999.
"Rainwater entered our home around 5am. We have since shifted to the first floor," said Kesarpur-Gamandia resident Bhakti Prasad Mohanty. The ground floor rooms of Bhakti's's house, like those of most others in the neighbourhood, is still under knee-deep water even after 12 hours. Cuttack received 271.2mm rainfall between 8.30am on Friday and 5.30pm on Saturday.
At Samanta Sahi, Rohan Mohanty, like most residents, has been spending restless moments. "We hope that the rain does not continue. We have had enough trouble," he said.
"We go up when the rain started pounding and we saw water entering the houses in our locality around 4am. We had to shift all our household articles to a higher ground as the water level went up," said Dinesh Sharma at Pithapur. "Though the water has receded from our rooms, the situation outside has not changed after more than 12 hours."
At Telenga Bazar, Pradip Sahoo said he had not seen such waterlogging conditions in the past 19 years. "During the super cyclone in 1999, roads outside were submerged and overflowing drains had flooded our courtyards. The same happened after the overnight rain," Sahoo said.
An official said numerous low-laying areas along with slum pockets were facing severe waterlogging conditions.
District emergency officer Prabodh Rout said: "We have deployed officials to assess the situation at 58 low-lying areas in view of the waterlogging situation at 58 low-laying areas because of last night's heavy and incessant rainfall. They will ensure proper management of relief and rescue operations as necessary."
"The 38 officials deployed are expected to ensure functioning of pumps, evacuation of residents and distribution of food items, if necessary," Rout said.
