Bhubaneswar: After shooting off a letter to Union Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma over waterlogging at Sun Temple in Konark, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Wednesday urged Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari to resolve the waterlogging problem on service roads of NH-16 here.
In his letter to Gadkari, Naveen said the service road on National Highway-16 near Iskcon temple is getting inundated during rain resulting in severe disruption of traffic and damage to parked vehicles.
“Occurrence of such ponding of rain water for such long periods has been observed from the days of construction of the solid high embankment of the National Highway without providing adequate discharge points and vantages,” he pointed out.
Constructing solid high embankments instead of viaducts aggravates drainage problems by concentrating the rainwater on the valleys, he said, adding similar situation is also occurring near Jaydev Vihar square, Rasulgarh, Palasuni and Pahala on the NH.
Though the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) authorities have been requested to construct drains along the service lane from Iskcon area to Vani Vihar, near Rasulgarh, Palasuni and Pahala on the NH, the issues have not yet been addressed and the situation is getting bad to worse, the chief minister added.
He also sought the intervention of Gadkari for an early resolution to these issues.
Two days ago, Naveen had approached Sharma to instruct the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to take up immediate steps for proper drainage of water at Sun Temple on a permanent basis. Otherwise, allow state government to take up the drainage work, he had stated.
Pahala shops violate norms, to face music
Bhubaneswar: Business establishments and big structures along NH-16 in Pahala which have built roads without adequate passage for rainwater would be sealed.
Enforcement wing of Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) and Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has been entrusted with the task.
Sources in the BMC and BDA said many establishments have constructed roads connecting their premises to NH-16, thereby causing a flood-like situation in the nearby areas.
A team of BMC comprising its Commissioner Krishan Kumar along with other senior officials visited the area under Ward No. 4 on the city outskirts Wednesday.
The team was surprised to discover that many commercial complexes and establishments have constructed roads connecting the NH-16, without paying any heed to the passage of storm water during rain, sources added. Kumar ordered the enforcement wing to take immediate action against the establishments.
The team during the field visit also found that many business houses like showrooms and dealers dealing with marbles among several others have flouted many clearance norms. One such example is of a marriage complex which was found blocking rainwater near the NH-16.
Sources said a survey will be conducted to find out the validity of the construction of the structures in Pahala area of Ward No-4 as waterlogging has become serious issue in the city during rains. It was learnt that any establishment found to have been constructed without a building plan approval from BDA and those building roads without following NHAI norms for proper passage of rainwater will be seriously dealt with.