Heavy Rain, Poor Drainage Cause Waterlogging In Odisha Capital

Bhubaneswar: The denizens were woebegone on Sunday as different parts of the city remained waterlogged following a brief spell of heavy rain.

While rainwater water entered many houses in the low-lying areas at Nayapalli, Satyanagar, Laxmi Sagar, Bomikhal, Old Town and Rasulgarh, the busy road passing in front of Iskcon temple on National Highway-16 was the worst hit by waterlogging in the absence of a proper drainage system. As a result, several vehicles got struck on the waterlogged road and traffic was affected for several hours.

“Drains are always clogged in the locality, but no one from the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) comes here to take appropriate measures for resolving this long-standing issue. The commuters have to face waterlogging problem even after a slight shower,” said Anjali, a student.

“The BMC has written to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to take up cleaning works of culverts in the area to prevent waterlogging on NH-16 near Iskcon temple at Nayapalli. We have already proposed the NHAI authorities to construct a channel from the temple up to Acharya Vihar Square”, informed BMC Mayor Ananta Narayan Jena.

Similar situation had occurred on Saturday as heavy rainfall paralysed vehicular movement on the road in front of Iskcon temple and dozens of cars and motorcycles were seen floating in rainwater.