Urban Flooding Stalks Odisha! Rain Exposes The Dark-underbelly Of Civic Bodies Of Twin City

Prameyanews English

Published By : Prameya News Bureau | September 14, 2021 IST

By D N Singh It has become perennial that waterlogging remains a prelude to urban flooding. Now it has become a common sight in our country more intensified by the changing pattern in the weather across the country.   Chest thumping by the Bhubaneswar and Cuttack Municipal Corporations ends in a shrill as the incessant rain has once again exposed the chinks in the armor.  The biggest challenge is the choking of all outlets which originates from lack of foresight driven town planning. Even people in general are compulsive litterers and the civic bodies are compulsive in closing their eyes to the future. Desilting is never regular and has been aggravated further by the Covid.    In some developed countries the compensation given to people hit by water invasion are heavily compensated. But in India, the word compensation fails by yards and miles. Only warnings remain the buzz words.   The scenes on the highways, people negotiating through knee-deep rain water in their vehicles came as a common sight in many areas of the capital city. Even the fame of the National Highway Authority, which fleeces the commuters collecting tolls, has fallen head over heels at many locations inside the capital and worse can be seen on the NH passing through the city when one drives from Khandagiri towards Khurda as the ill-timed construction of some tunnels bares the grotesque reality. Among the serpentine drainages those flow, perhaps, are only constructed for the heck of construction as barely very few of them have the clog-free passages. Whereas, most of such channels remain perennially clogged and get cleared only when the next contractor comes years after. Even the road running alongside the NH flyover inside the city remain an island of nightmare where several commuters keep struggling through the deep waters over flowing into the arteries. The depression from the Bay of Bengal has many more to reveal in the millennium city Cuttack. The city just exposes the lackadaisical past and the present unpreparedness to face the water crisis. Lashed by a rain sending the congested cultural capital flooded with 480 mm of water surged into the low-lying areas including into the premises of the premier medical institution of the state, SCB Medical College. Obviously the heart of the city was an easy target where a place of worship as important as the Chandi temple suffered a collapse of its entrance. There is anything new in areas like Thoria Sahi, Raja Bagicha, Pithapur and parts of Sutahata hardly escaping the water menace. The main bus stand at Badambadi was inundated rendering vast area dotted with mini ponds here and there. There is no count as how many residential houses of people in slightly low lying areas got stuck by sudden ingress of rainwater into their living spaces. Interestingly, during the entire rains lashing the capital city for last two days, not a single team from the BMC was seen for any reality check, let alone redress. It's not the case in the twin city but a majority of districts in the state reveal the plight as people keep continuously clobbered by the water menace.    About the Author: DN Singh is a Bhubaneswar-based senior journalist. DISCLAIMER This is the personal opinion of the author. The views expressed in this write up have nothing to do with the www.prameyanews.com

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