Keonjhar: The lack of a proper drainage system is making the lives of residents miserable in this town. The faulty mechanism to clear water during the monsoons is putting the lives of people under a lot of stress. Locals alleged that not only are government funds being wasted, but at the same time they are being forced to face torrid times. Locals pointed out that the construction of drains has been carried out in a faulty manner. Hence efforts to rectify those mistakes are not giving any results. On the other hand, funds allotted for the rectification are going to waste, they added. Meanwhile, with Rath Yatra being celebrated Sunday, the drain work has hampered the smooth movement of traffic in the town. One such example is evident from the drain under construction near Gandhi Street in this city. The Public Works Department (PWD) had allotted the responsibility to a private company to construct the drain and a fund of `10 crore had been allocated.
However, unnecessary delays in the construction of the drain are adding to the woes of the people, locals said. Sources pointed out that initially the drain was given a ‘V’ shape. Later the construction company realised that it would be better if the drain was straight. By the time, the fault was detected a lot of money had already been spent. And by the time the rectification process started, the rains had arrived. Locals stated that the entire area has now turned into a slush-filled zone with vehicles regularly getting stuck in the mud. They pointed out that the area has become accident prone and police are struggling to control the traffic. “If the drain had been straight, water could have flown out easily. As it was ‘V’ shaped, the water stagnated inside the drain and overflowed. We have repeatedly pointed this issue to the engineers involved in construction work. However, no one listened to us,” alleged locals Pintu Sharma and Anil Shankar. They added that if the work is done in such an arbitrary manner it will just be a waste of a large amount of money and the main problem of draining out of water will never be solved.
Other locals pointed out that the fault lies with the engineers as they decided to construct a ‘V’ shaped drain. “Now after so many months, they have realised that they had gone wrong and have decided to rebuild the drain. But it is the people who are suffering,” the locals added. “We have laid special emphasis on a proper drainage system. The present problem has arisen because of delay in work. The contractor has been asked to complete the road within 15 days. We are hopeful that the problems will soon be resolved,” said Bikram Murmu, assistant engineer of the PWD department.