Sambalpur: With the de-silting of canals not progressing, the fear of a man-made flood is looming large on the denizens here this year.
The local people flayed the civic authorities for not making field visits to check whether any progress has been achieved in the renovation work.
Two major canals in the city known for leading to man-made floods are Tangna and Dhobijor. In a bid to avoid the perennial water logging problem, concrete work of the two canals is under way. But leaving the work halfway will aggravate the problem, locals pointed out.
The purpose of the project is to allow the city’s waste water along with runoff water an easy flow into river Mahanadi. But the earth mass lying in the canals has choked the free flow of water.
Apart from these two main canals, roadside drains and nullahs are also yet to be de-silted. Besides, encroachers who built kiosks and houses there have been creating problems.
The civic administration admitted that encroachments were one of the impediments that led to the situation. However, when it comes to eviction, the administration hardly takes any steps against the encroachers, locals alleged.
Sambalpur Municipal Corporation (SMC) commissioner Bimalendu Ray said the de-silting work of all the nullahs coming under the SMC would be completed in time. The Dhobijor work is being executed by the irrigation department, he said, adding there are some problems, leading to the delay.
PNN