PINAKI MAJUMDAR
Jamshedpur, May 30: Sunday evening’s Nor’wester in Jamshedpur, which brought a welcome relief from the blistering heat of the past few days, ripped the veil off the civic inadequacies of the steel hub. The city witnessed waterlogged streets and clogged drains after a heavy downpour which lasted for over an hour.
While commuters were caught in traffic snarls on several arteries like the Sonari Airport Road, Bistupur-Jugsalai-Tatanagar Station Road, Kalimati Road (near Howrah bridge) and Straight Mile Road (near Baridih roundabout) because of waterlogging, residents in several low-lying areas had to wade through knee-deep stinking water.
Refugee Colony, Gurdwara Basti and Kasidih Bagan Area in Sakchi, East Plant Basti in Burmamines and Daiguttu in Mango had knee-deep water till late at night.
Many shuddered to think if this was the state of roads and drains just after one spell of rain, what would be the situation in monsoon.
“This happens after every downpour on Kalimati Road. Neither Jamshedpur Notified Area Committee (JNAC) nor JUSCO, which looks after the upkeep of steel city bothers to clean the drains knowing fully well that Nor’westers occur around this time of the year,” complained, a resident of Refugee Colony.
While JNAC cited a manpower crunch for not being able to focus on cleaning drains, JUSCO blamed encroachers.
Many commuters passing through the Sonari Airport Road had a harrowing time as gushing water from the drains inundated the road affecting traffic movement for several hours.
Jugsalai Municipality authorities promised to write to Tatanagar railway authorities for clearing the silt on a nullah near the Tata Pigment overbridge. Once it is cleaned, the important stretch linking Bistupur-Jugsalai with Tatanagar station will not get waterlogged.
Notably, monsoon is not far away as the season of rains has already hit the Kerala coast on Sunday, three days in advance.
According to weathermen, under normal circumstances and if a favourable condition persists, monsoon is likely to arrive in Jharkhand between June 10 and 15.
