Bhubaneswar: A special joint squad of Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA), Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) and National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) jumped into action Wednesday to solve the waterlogging problem near Iskcon temple at Nayapalli here.
The action followed a meeting that was held under the chairmanship of BMC Commissioner and BDA Vice-Chairman Krishan Kumar at BDA Tuesday evening. It was attended by senior officials of all the organisations concerned.
BDA Additional Commissioner-cum-Member, Enforcement, Bhabani Shankar Chayani, who led the action by the joint squad, said, “The siphon under the NH flyover after its opening towards the multi-storeyed structures nearby, opposite the Iskcon temple, had a narrow opening and its depth just near the outlet was made wider and excavation was done to make its mouth deeper.”
Chayani, who supervised the day-long operation, said not only the width of the siphon mouth, but after bifurcation, a portion of the drainage channel was blocked by the locals and business community members.
“We had to excavate the blockage so that more water could be cleared after the siphon is divided into two branches. From the preliminary study, it was evident that while one branch of the drain is functioning, the other one was blocked completely,” he added.
Along with the clearance of the obstructed drain, shops were also removed. Land and enforcement officials of BMC, BDA and NHAI, police and Public Works Department (Roads and Buildings) officials were also present at the site. The signboards obstructing the drain and illegally parked vehicles were also removed.
It may be mentioned that the waterlogging on the NH service road in front of the temple was occurring because the siphon was unable to discharge the water through its two branches.
In case of heavy rain, while the water level on the service road increases with the additional water coming from the flyover –just like opening up of streams on a hill slope — the non-clearance of drain water beyond the siphon adds to the problem as the water level does not recede with the inflow becoming more than the outflow in the system.
Secondly, the faulty design adopted by the NHAI was adding to the woes as the stretch between CRP Square and Jaydev Vihar Square is having one small siphon and no underpass to allow water to flow from one side to the other.
It has become a necessity to have a proper and robust drainage system to drain out the extra water from the catchment of Nayapalli and nearby localities from the waterlogging zone so that in case of heavy rain water starts flowing instead of accumulating there.
Team formed to resolve waterlogging woes
Bhubaneswar: The district administration of Khurda has constituted a three-member team to find solution to waterlogging issues being reported from different parts of the Capital city.
This was revealed at a meeting chaired by the district Collector Nirmal Chandra Mishra. “We have formed a three-member committee comprising executive engineer from R&B, BMC and NHAI departments to find solutions to waterlogging at the NH-16 stretch, particularly in front of the Iskcon temple,” Mishra said.
The team would undertake “spot visits” and propose measures to control such situation, he further added.
Besides, the NH-16 stretch in front of Iskcon temple, the team would also look into waterlogging woes in Rasulgarh, Jagamara, Badagada Brit Colony and Pahala areas.
Earlier, Congress workers led by district unit president Manas Choudhury, sprayed water into the NHAI office here Monday protesting the alleged lackadaisical attitude of the NHAI authorities towards addressing the waterlogging woes. Following the incident, police arrested two Congress activists on charges of damaging NHAI properties worth lakhs of rupees Tuesday.
It is worth mentioning here that Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) and Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) Tuesday asked the NHAI authorities to take up short-term and long-term measures to prevent waterlogging in front of ISKCON temple.