Will Patna crumble under rain, again?

PATNA: With the onset of southwest monsoon expected within a fortnight in Bihar, the Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) seems far from prepared to tackle continuous and heavy rainfall.
Although officials claim that almost 70% of drainage and manhole cleaning works have been done, many drains are still filled with garbage. Hundreds of PMC workers have been cleaning drains, chambers and manholes in all six circles of the civic body — Kankerbagh, Bankipore, New Capital, Pataliputra, Azimabad and Patna City — since February-end to avoid water woes during the monsoon season.
New Capital circle executive officer Shailesh Kumar told this newspaper, “We hope that cleaning as well as fumigation of drains, manholes and catchpits in our circle will be done before the monsoon season begins.Of the 11 drains, six have been cleaned with the help of payloaders and other equipment. Besides, work on 5,089 (of 7,269) catchpits and 5,686 (of 8,757) manholes has been completed.”
According to Pataliputra circle chief sanitary inspector Jitendra, around 70% of the monsoon-preparedness work has been completed in his circle.
“Apart from drains in Nehru Nagar, BSEB Colony, Mohanpur sump house and Shivpuri, 7,266 (of 11,836) manholes have been cleaned. Of the 10,551 catchpits, 7,066 have been de-silted,” Jitendra said.
The figures of Patna City and Azimabad circles tell a different tale. Approximately 50% of desiltation work has been done in the two circles so far. City manager Prakash Kumar pointed out, “We need sewer suction machines to clear the garbage and silt from manholes. The work will pick up the pace by next week as the equipment will arrive by then.”
Bankipore and Kankerbagh circle officials claimed that only 65% drains, catchpits and manholes had been cleaned.
Patna’s drainage network comprises more than 500 drains. Water from these passes through four sewerage treatment plants at Beur, Karmalichak, Pahari and Saidpur. The treated water is then discharged into the Ganga through open canals.
PMC public relations officer Harshita said the civic body had been laying pipelines, especially in those areas, where there was no drainage network like Kankerbagh and Jakkanpur, among others.
“We cannot guarantee complete respite from water woes during the upcoming monsoon season, but have made a plan to minimize the problems Patnaites face,” she said.