Rourkela: Close on the heels of paver block erosion and the statue of Major Dhyan Chand biting the dust, another embarrassment has appeared to haunt the administration. While the Steel City is yet to come to terms with the two incidents, a large portion of a decorative wall constructed in January here during the Hockey World Cup, has come crashing down. Nearly 100-meter length of the wall, which stood just adjacent to the fallen statue, on the other side of the Dhyan Chand Square caved in. The wall was erected during the World Cup beautification drive and photographs of all the captains of the participating teams were painted on it along with other pictures. On the back side of the wall, there is a patch of paddy fields.
During monsoons, a huge quantity of rainwater is discharged through this patch of land. The field remains swampy for nearly seven months after the monsoon gets over. A retired civil engineer said, “The whole wall was constructed without proper planning, which means, no one really bothered to take note of this fact of water discharge. The wall came down due to faulty planning and nothing else.” Another person said, “The monetary loss may be very small but what about the loss of the city’s image? Who will compensate for that?” Reacting to the entire incident, former BJP MLA candidate Nihar Ray said, “I am really feeling ashamed for the entire incident. We all praised the government for all the developmental activities which were undertaken.
However, we also warned about the low quality of work and time and again raised the issue. But, no one listened to us. Now, just wait for more to happen.” Labour minister Sarada Nayak said, “I have heard about it and I assure you that no one will be spared for this substandard work.” Interestingly, the administration has another explanation for the wall collapse. “We found the water needs to be discharged and we are planning to harvest rainwater as the rainwater gets discharged through that field and we are trying to reinforce that,” said ADM, Commissioner, and CEO of Smart City Limited Subhankar Mohapatra.
