Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation: Residents use Drain No. 5 for Daily Commute in Bhubaneswar | Bhubaneswar News
Bhubaneswar: Residents, who live near drain no. 5, which swept away a nine-year-old boy in Unit III on Tuesday afternoon, use it to shuttle between two localities — Kharavela Nagar and Satya Nagar, officials of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) said on Wednesday.
As the mouth of a railway underpass, which is 15-ft wide and 12-ft high, joins the drain no.5 on either side (towards Satya Nagar and Kharavela Nagar), people use it as a safe tunnel for their daily commute. Scrap collectors and rag-pickers also use the passage. Since the railway yard is nearby, scrap collectors keep their goods in the underpass.
However, after the accident, BMC started constructing a barricade in front of the underpass that faces the localities to prevent people from accessing it. But BMC workers faced protest from the locals, who don’t want the barricade to be put up there.
“Our men are at work since morning to close the opening using iron grills. We have sent an enforcement squad to pacify the protesters. We want to complete the work as soon as possible,” said Bilash Behara, city engineer (BMC).
BMC officials said children also knew about the internal drain routes. When it is not raining, it became a walking route. Even when there is little water flowing, people use it as a passage. “In fact the floor of the underpass has drain water flowing all the time but at feet level. So it becomes easy for people to cross. If there is heavy rain, it is fraught with danger,” Behera added.
On Wednesday, housing and urban development minister Krushna Chandra Mahapatra visited the spot where the nine-year-old boy was swept away. BMC commissioner Rajesh Patil and Bhubaneswar-Ekamra MLA Babu Singh were also present. The govt has asked the BMC to file a report on the accident and action taken to prevent such incidents.
As the mouth of a railway underpass, which is 15-ft wide and 12-ft high, joins the drain no.5 on either side (towards Satya Nagar and Kharavela Nagar), people use it as a safe tunnel for their daily commute. Scrap collectors and rag-pickers also use the passage. Since the railway yard is nearby, scrap collectors keep their goods in the underpass.
However, after the accident, BMC started constructing a barricade in front of the underpass that faces the localities to prevent people from accessing it. But BMC workers faced protest from the locals, who don’t want the barricade to be put up there.
“Our men are at work since morning to close the opening using iron grills. We have sent an enforcement squad to pacify the protesters. We want to complete the work as soon as possible,” said Bilash Behara, city engineer (BMC).
BMC officials said children also knew about the internal drain routes. When it is not raining, it became a walking route. Even when there is little water flowing, people use it as a passage. “In fact the floor of the underpass has drain water flowing all the time but at feet level. So it becomes easy for people to cross. If there is heavy rain, it is fraught with danger,” Behera added.
On Wednesday, housing and urban development minister Krushna Chandra Mahapatra visited the spot where the nine-year-old boy was swept away. BMC commissioner Rajesh Patil and Bhubaneswar-Ekamra MLA Babu Singh were also present. The govt has asked the BMC to file a report on the accident and action taken to prevent such incidents.
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