Waterlogging at Bomikhal on NH-203. Picture by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, Oct. 3: Officials of the municipal corporation are blaming local residents for waterlogging after short spells of rain in various areas.

A civic official said the residents had constructed houses without proper planning and made things worse for themselves. Officials of the Bhubaneswar Development Authority also echoed the same, saying that action would be taken against those who had constructed houses violating its norms.

Residents of Bhagabat Sandhan, Satya Vihar, Swati Vihar, GGP Colony, Jagannath Nagar have been complaining about waterlogging. Padmabati Vihar on Patia College Road and its nearby areas also get flooded following a short spell of rain. Construction sites such as Bomikhal and Nayapalli are prone to waterlogging.

“The road here gets flooded whenever it rains,” said Jagannath Nagar resident Shaktikant Jena.

Waterlogging is noticeable in the low-lying areas such as GGP Colony, Jagannath Nagar and Bhagabat Sandhan as well. Many under-construction houses, apart from residential and commercial complexes, can be seen submerged in water with no outlets for the rainwater to pass.

The residents, who had followed the development authority’s plan while building houses, said they, too, had to face waterlogging because of other people who did not adhere to the plan.

“We can see people constructing houses without thinking about drainage or road problems. When rains comes, everybody has to encounter waterlogging and they put the blame on authorities,” said local businessman Sandip Mallick.

The residents said they had been complaining to the authorities about their problems, but the authorities said the situation in these areas at times had gone beyond their control.

Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation commissioner Sanjib Kumar Mishra said they were getting complaints of waterlogging in these areas, but addressing the problems had become a tough task for the civic body. “Water flows into the river through these low-lying areas. However, unmindful and unplanned construction activities here leave no space for rainwater to pass,” said Mishra.

Corporation sources said the civic body had planned to build swamps at various places in the area to allow rainwater to accumulate, so that it could be pumped out later. But, they found no place to make swamps.

“We will try to construct drains to solve the waterlogging problem. But, it will take time,” said an official of the corporation’s engineering wing.

Speaking on the violation of building regulations in the low-lying areas, vice-chairman of the development authority Vishal Kumar Dev said: “We are not allowing construction in the eco-sensitive and flood zones. If people have constructed houses without plan approval and not provided adequate space for other development needs such as drainage and sewerage, we will ask the planning vigilance team to visit the area and make a survey to assess the situation.”