Drainage Channels: 30 big drains in city to be barricaded | Bhubaneswar News
The natural drainage channels in the city run through residential areas and slums.At several places, the drains either have beginning or ending. In those cases, the mouths of the drains face the homes. Rainwater that flows from the secondary drains meet the natural drainage channels near their mouths, thus causing a strong water current, officials said.
“We found that there are at least 30 openings of natural drainage channels at several places, which need to be barricaded using grills or iron mesh. In fact many vulnerable points have already been fixed with covers, barricades and grills. The natural drainage channels are open throughout their lengths. We have put covers at certain places considering vulnerable areas,” said BMC commissioner Rajesh Patil.
While the drainage division of BMC handles 10 natural drainage channels along with drains of 10 wards, the private agencies hired by the civic body maintain drains of the remaining 57 wards. BMC altogether handles 320 km of internal drains (in wards and along sub-arteries).
Experts said barricades are also necessary as some drain openings are till the road level. Whenever there is heavy rain, and the drains overflow, many people fail to spot them leading to accidents and fatalities, they said. “Warning signs will also be put up along some drains if there is a need so that residents maintain caution while passing through such places,” said city engineer (BMC) Bilash Behera.
Officials said there are many safety grills which they have planned to install considering the drain size, opening, intensity of water flow, habitation and traffic flow.
Waterlogging has been a perennial problem in the smart city. “Waterlogging warning system and water level monitoring are the need of the hour. Piecemeal approach should be done away with,” said Kuna Mohapatra, a city planner.
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