Baripada: Flood fear grips the residents of the municipality here every monsoon as they have seen massive waterlogging in the town due to the surging waters of Budhabalanga river flowing on the outskirts of this town. The fear persists as the longstanding demand by the residents for the construction of a ring road around the civic body to prevent the floodwaters from entering the town has remained a pipedream. An automated sluice gate at the confluence of Budhabalanga and three other rivers is also hanging fire.
A survey for the project was conducted twice in the past but it is yet to be grounded. Locals have expressed their unhappiness over the official lethargy in this regard. As Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is slated to visit the district August 12, a private agency has started a survey on the ring road project, a dyke and an automated sluice gate.
Notably, Patnaik had announced the execution of all three projects during his visit to the town in 2019. But there has been no progress on the project, locals lamented. Sources said, the administration has suddenly become active in view of the Chief Minister’s visit. Some residents believe that all this is a gimmick and nothing will happen after the survey. For long, locals have been urging for a ring road for Baripada town to control frequent floods from Budhabalanga river.
During cyclonic storm Phailin, the town witnessed unprecedented floods as houses, shops and roads submerged under floodwater. Patients at the district headquarters hospital had a harrowing time after 10-ft high floodwater remained stagnant inside the hospital. There was a huge loss of life and properties. Keeping this in view, the ring road project was announced by the Chief Minister in January 2019 during an election campaign.
Accordingly, the 117th meeting of the Technical Advisory Committee had discussed the ring road project proposed from Damodarpur Ghat to Sunamuhin Damodar Ghat. The preliminary cost of the project was pegged at Rs 62.34 crore. Besides, seven to eight sluice gates were proposed at the confluence of Jarali, Sarali, Sukajor and Budhabalanga rivers.
A report to this effect was prepared, said an assistant engineer of the Water Resources department. It was learned that 80 acres of government land and 60 acres of private land are needed for the construction of 7-km long ring road. Besides, 290 houses would be removed for the project. But land acquisition has not been started, said executive engineer Prasad Ranjan Panda. “The project is aimed at protecting the town residents from the flood menace from Budhabalanga river. But three years on, the project is still a nonstarter,” rued local like Sribatsa Patra, Narahari Nayak and Prakash Nayak.