Patna DM’s report exposes PMC claims in rain preparedness

PATNA

The Patna district administration has submitted a comprehensive report on the failure of the city’s drainage network to the urban development department (UDD) and sought its intervention to correct the flaws and prevent waterlogging, which threw the cit out of gear during the rain last week.

The report, prepared by a team of officials led by an additional district magistrate rank officer and those of the Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC), contradicts the claims made by municipal commissioner Himanshu Sharma that the city’s drainage network was capable to keeping the city clean even it rained more than 100 mm in a day.

Patna district magistrate Chandra Shekhar Singh, who has incidentally served as managing director of Bihar Urban Infrastructure Development Corporation (Buidco), said the report was sent to the PMC and Buidco —the two agencies responsible for maintaining and operating the city’s drainage system, as also the UDD on Sunday. “The circle wise team of officials was constituted for comprehensive study of the drainage system and apprise the authorities about issues to be resolved before the monsoon,” the DM said.

The report points out that many important drains like Bakarganj Nala, Mandiri Nala and Serpentine Nala required fresh drive to clear filth and other solid wastes, as they were not removed properly during the routine cleaning operations. Regarding the recurring waterlogging near south-western end of Gandhi Maidan, the report stated that an old drain connecting Maurya Hotel to Ram Ghulam chowk was dead.

“A high-powered committee set up to probe the 2019 waterlogging in Patna had recommended raising cemented wall along Saidpur Nala to prevent its frequent clogging due to dumping of solid wastes. The direction remains to be complied with. Mithapur sump could not be made functional as yet. The Buidco had launched construction of 7.50-km-long drain from Beur to Mithapur to carry drain water. Its completion target was 2020, but it’s not complete,” says the report.

Acknowledging the issues in drainage system, deputy chief minister Tarkishore Prasad, who holds the urban development portfolio, said he had been regularly reviewing the drive to clean drains by holding virtual meetings with the department officials. “I got to know about the district administration’s report. Another review meeting has been proposed in the next couple of days. Suitable instructions will be issued to the officers concerned,” said Prasad.

The deputy CM said it was because of regular monitoring of work that the PMC managed to clear the city of storm water during the recent cyclonic rains quite fast. “Still, there are some problem areas like NMCH, Kankarbagh, Kadam Kuan, Rajiv Nagar, etc, which required more attention,” said Prasad.

PMC commissioner Himanshu Sharma and Buidco MD Raman Kumar could not be contacted despite several attempts.