Showers expose Patna Municipal Corporation’s preparedness

PATNA: A brief spell of rainfall in the city on Saturday exposed the Patna Municipal Corporation’s (PMC) monsoon preparedness. Many areas like Kankerbagh, Exhibition Road, Sabzibagh, Birla Mandir Road and Jaganpura were waterlogged after the showers.
Former ward councillor Sanjeev Kumar criticised the civic body, saying, “The PMC had made tall claims of clearing drains before the onset of monsoon. Today’s showers, however, proved that the civic body failed to tackle the menace.I wonder what will happen later.”
Jaganpura resident Pappu urged the PMC to clear waterlogging in his area.
“There are chances that water will enter our houses. Since construction work is going on in the area connecting Jaganpura to Sampatchak, the Badshahi Pain drain has been closed and water is not being drained out. Such is the situation that we cannot move out,” Pappu said.
Sabzibagh and Machhua Toli residents shared similar experiences as their localities got waterlogged in no time. Sabzibagh resident Mannuar Hasan told TOI, “Nothing is done in a planned manner here. A road has been dug up and is now filled with water. This work should have been finished before monsoon.”
The area near Birla Mandir was also waterlogged on Saturday. “Every year this place gets submerged in water, but nobody pays attention,” said Raju Kumar, who lives there.
The PMC, on the other hand, claimed it was doing its best to solve the problem.
“We have given bikes to all our sanitary inspectors so that they can visit their respective wards and get in touch with circle officers in case they encounter a problem,” PMC’s public relations officer Harshita said, adding the civic body had finished 75% of the work related to cleaning of drains before monsoon.
Civic body commissioner Anupan Kumar Suman formed a high-level team on Saturday to tackle problems related to monsoon. The team consists of eight members, headed by PMC additional municipal commissioner Sheela Irani. Two deputy municipal commissioners Rakesh Kumar Jha and Noorul Haque Siwani, who are part of the team, have been given charge of special work officers of Kankerbagh and Bankipore circles.