Dhenkanal: With no stormwater drainage system in place, even light rains leave people residing in Town Planning area and left side of Karigar Sahi under Dhenkanal municipality waterlogged.
The residents alleged that their repeated pleas have fallen on deaf ears of the civic body officers.
About 500 families reside in Town Planning area and over 400 families in left side of Karigar Sahi. Both these places are devoid of drainage facility. Despite the fact that the residents of these two areas have been demanding for stormwater drainage facility in their respective areas, the municipality is yet to take any step to address the issue.
At times, people engage water pumps on their own to pump out water from their localities.
The low pressure-induced rain that continued for two days — Wednesday and Thursday — recently put the residents through a lot of difficulties. Stormwater carrying all sorts of garbage from nearby areas accumulated in those two localities. The water even entered houses of many residents’ leaving them fending for themselves.
“We had to relocate some of our furniture and other items. At a time when coronavirus is taking its toll, such a situation makes our lives more vulnerable,” alleged a senior citizen from the locality.
“This place gets inundated even after a little shower confining us to our houses. Going out is near impossible. In case of urgency, we have to wade through knee-deep water. On many occasions, we have taken up the issue with the district administration and municipality officers, but to no avail. If no immediate step is taken in this regard, we have decided to file a PIL,” said Bahadur Patsahani, a resident.
“Besides filing a PIL, we will also resort to strike and agitation in coming days,” he warned.
When contacted, municipality engineer, Rashmita Mishra said, “We have decided to increase the height of the culvert at Town Planning area. Similarly, in Karigar Sahi area, an estimate of Rs15 lakh has already been made for the construction of roadside drains.”
“The work is getting delayed as the tender has not been floated due to several reasons. We are aware of the issues the residents are facing. We will discuss the issues with the locals soon and come up with a solution,” she added.
PNN