SHUBHANGI SHIFA
Ranchi, Aug 11: Heavy rains in the capital city for the past few days have given rise to problems of water-logging in various areas, which in turn has affected normal life in areas including Buddha Vihar, Argora Talab, Pandara Friends Colony, Maulana Azad Colony, AG Colony, Doranda, Kokar, Lalpur, Bada Talab, Harmu, Bye Pass Road, Dhurva, Morabadi, Indrapuri, Saket Nagar, New Saket Nagar, Piska More, Hinoo Shukla Colony, Chutia, Ratu Road, Azad Basti, Madhukam, Irgu Toli among others.
Residents of these areas claim that complaints regarding the issue of overflowing have fallen on deaf ears at RMC.
Nitesh Singh, a local in Indrapuri claimed, “I have been a resident here for the past 10-15 years. We have requested the RMC on several instances to work on the issues of water logging and the below-the-level roads. Nothing has been done so far.”
Rakhi Kumari from the Azad Basti said, “This happens every year. Nothing has been done on time so far. Maybe after the rain subsides the RMC will wake up and clear the drains.”
The problem of water-logging is connected to the issue of drains overflowing. Notably, the Jharkhand High Court had earlier questioned the Ranchi Municipal Corporation regarding its treatment of drains in the city as well. This had happened when a PIL was filed by a homeowner complaining that dirty road water had entered his house.
On the other hand, efforts are being made to settle the short-term problem of water-logging as soon as possible. In this sequence, water has been drained by distilling machines in areas like Kokar, Lalpur, Bada Talab, Harmu, Bye Pass Road, Dhurwa, Morabadi, and Ratu Road among others.
Water is being extracted continuously from the machines in the presence of the municipal corporation’s team in all the areas. The water logging situation has been rectified at some places, while work is in progress at others. Apart from this, officials have claimed that the drains are being cleaned continuously in all the wards by the Ranchi Municipal Corporation.
The corporation has appealed to the citizens to inform the corporation if any kind of water-logging situation arises in their area. The corporation has issued an emergency number 0651-2200025 and urged people to call for help in case of water-logging.