Bhubaneswar's civic promises go down drain

Eighty per cent of the total length of major drains have no concrete wall for protection from erosion in Bhubaneswar.
Drainage channel without side walls near Ratha Road in Old Town. (Photo | EPS)
Drainage channel without side walls near Ratha Road in Old Town. (Photo | EPS)

BHUBANESWAR: A year after the unprecedented flooding in State Capital, much of Odisha Government’s brouhaha to solve the problem has gone down the drain as Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation has failed to complete even a single major project conceived to prevent recurrence of deluge in the City.

After the flooding last year, the Corporation had decided to spend Rs12 crore to repair damaged drains and build protective walls but the project remains incomplete due to inadequate budget and delay in tendering process. 

Eighty per cent of the total length of major drains have no concrete wall for protection from erosion.

Out of a total 56 km length of the major drains, concrete walls have only been constructed on a stretch of only 11 km.

The 10 major natural drains and three primary stormwater channels, that usually save the city from deluge during excess rainfall, have been facing siltation every year.

But no measure was taken to build the walls to check soil erosion and prevent siltation.

Two years back, BMC brought the City’s drainage division under its jurisdiction for improved administrative coordination for round-the-year works.

However, it has not shown any result.

Not just repair of drainage systems, most other projects are also hanging fire.

Last year, then-Mayor Ananta Narayan Jena had gone on to announce that box cell stormwater drain connecting drainage channel no 4 near Acharya Vihar will be completed.

Jena is an MLA now but the project has not seen much progress. 

The Cuttack Drainage Division started work of the box drain on a 570 metre stretch with a cost of over Rs 10 crore but managed to complete around 193 metre.

The work was later transferred to BMC’s Drainage Division.

The BMC, however, has been able to complete only 277-metre stretch and construction on another 100-metre stretch is pending.

To prevent water-logging on the service lane along NH-16 near Iskcon temple, the civic authorities had planned another drainage channel at a cost of Rs 9 crore.

The tender for the project was floated only recently, raising question marks on intent of the Government as monsoon is due to arrive. 

The Government plan to construct an underground drain from CRP Square to Vani Vihar via Jaydev Vihar to clear rainwater from service lane near Iskcon temple is put on hold too.

The underground drain work was to be executed by Works department in coordination with National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) at an investment of around Rs130 crore.

However, delay in finalisation of detailed project report (DPR) and allocation of funds has delayed it, sources said.

Apart from the non-execution of pending projects, the civic authorities also failed to check encroachments.

After coming under fire for failing to check waterlogging in the city last year, the BMC had found out that the existing drain at Bhagabat Sandhan, which carries water up to Gangua nullah, was squeezed to three feet at some points, thanks to mushrooming encroachments.

Except sporadic eviction drive, nothing much has been done.

Nayapali Haza, the wetland spread across seven-acre, was squeezed to 1.5 acres by encroachers.

Neither the BMC nor Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) has been able to initiate action against them though they had planned to clear the area to prevent waterlogging last year. 

Civic officials said fund crunch was the major hurdle in implementation of these projects. BMC City Engineer DS Mohapatra said, “The projects need a lot of funding. We have sought Rs 32 crore for repair of major drains damaged in cyclone Fani. Besides, over Rs 100 crore is required for building walls on major drains,” he said. 

The long-term project works, he said, will be executed from this year as Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has announced a Rs 1,000 crore drainage package for the City two months back to prevent urban flooding.

Disaster in the making

  •  80 per cent of the total length of major drains have no concrete wall for protection from erosion

  •  Out of a total 56 km length of the major drains, concrete walls have only been constructed on a stretch of only 11 km

  •  Plan to construct an underground drain from CRP Square to Vani Vihar via Jaydev Vihar to clear rainwater from service lane near Iskcon temple has been put on hold

  •  Civic authorities have also failed to check encroachments

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