Bhubaneswar: June 06: Bhubaneswar City has been witnessing heavy water-logging even if with a hour long rain, which prompts government to take immediate step to face the challenges during monsoon.
Urban Development Minister Pushpendra Singh Deo took a preparatory meeting with the officials of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation, Bhubaneswar Development Authority, Drainage Division, Public works Department, Odisha Fire Service, JICA and OWSSB on Saturday regarding monsoon preparedness and water logging situation in the city. After the meeting, Singh Deo informed at the meeting that the officials of BMC and the drainage division have conducted a survey across the city and identified 27 locations vulnerable to water logging i.e., Sidhi Vihar, Jagamara, Jaydev Vihar, Patia, Unit-6, Nayapali, GGP colony, Bomikhal etc.
Meanwhile, the minister told that for de-silting of the 10 major drainage channels, a tender has been floated by the Water Resources Department and the work would be completed by the end of June, he further added. Cleaning and de-silting work of secondary and tertiary drains under the BMC jurisdiction is already in progress. While work in 57 wards of the city in being done by sanitation contractors under the supervision of City Health Officer, engineering division of BMC is taking up the work in rest 10 BMC-managed wards. It has decided to divide 27 vulnerable pockets among the three administrative zones of the BMC and that will be monitored by Zonal Deputy Commissioners (ZDCs) for its effective and time-bound work.
To deal with any emergency situation a Control Room will be created at the BMC central office at Gautam Nagar and to manage water logging situation, adequate mobile pumps will be arranged with the help of Orissa Fire Services. Officials of the works department were asked to take up the cleaning work of drains under their control and open adequate vents so that rainwater from the PWD roads can flow into adjacent drains freely, said sources.
One JCB machine would be provided in each zone throughout the monsoon season for taking immediate action in case of blockage of drains due to uprooting of trees or congestion of drains by plastic, paper or other waste materials, sources said.
In case of any emergency, Odisha State Disaster Mitigation Authority (OSDMA) shall be contacted and Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) will be intimated as and when required. Besides, all these, a rapid Action team will be operational for each zone of BMC by City Health Officer, official sources informed.
