New drains in pipeline to contain waterlogging

Bhubaneswar: Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) is planning seven new drains to manage waterlogging in the city. The new drains would be constructed with an investment of over `9.45 crore.
The tendering process for the drainage project is underway.
The new drains will include construction of internal drain system with covered slabs at Ananta Vihar Phase-II in Ward Number 62, drainage system with covered slab for Dumduma Housing Board Colony Phase-IV in Ward Number 65, internal drain with covered slab at Jagannath Vihar Plot No. 387 to Plot No. 59/553 (Lane-3) in Ward No. 24, drainage system in Bhagabat Sandhan area in Ward No. 19, renovation of Drainage Channel No. 5 near backside of Sriya Talkies in Ward Number 42, drain from backside of OMFED to Drainage Channel Number 1 via Guru Kelu Charan Mohapatra Park Road and improvement of drainage system in Ahalya Nagar area in Ward No. 3.
The drainage development and renovation of the existing system would cost `86.30 lakh, `1.51 crore, `49.98 lakh, `2.30 crore, `12.84 lakh, `3.50 crore and `65 lakh from Ward No. 62 to OMFED area, respectively. These new structures would enable discharge of water from waterlogged localities in an effective manner.
On the other hand, a review meeting on waterlogging and drainage situation was taken by the Municipal Commissioner, BMC in presence of all officers, ward officers, sanitary inspectors, engineers and experts at BMC Conference Hall Tuesday.
It was decided to keep a close watch on low-lying areas of the city. Total BMC jurisdiction area was divided into 12 sub-zones where 12 senior officers were told to take the lead and go to the area with their teams. Each nodal officer of every sub-zone was asked to take stock of the situation everyday and report.
The situation assessment and immediate actions will be reviewed in the evening every day. Sanitation agencies were asked to be present with all required number of workers and apparatus as well as vehicles. Mechanical Engineering wing of the civic body was asked to hire as many pumps as required to dewater the low-lying areas across the city.
On Monday, several localities including the road in front of Iskcon Temple at Nayapalli area on National Highway-16, Acharya Vihar, Jaydev Vihar, Bomikhal, Old Town, Dumduma and Sisupalgarh in the state capital were inundated due to incessant rainfall.It may be mentioned here that the BMC Storm Water Helpline received 16 complaints Tuesday (from 6 am till 7.15 pm) from various parts of the city. All complaints were resolved in quick time.