PATNA: The rains brought temperatures down but along with the cooling drops came attendant problems. Frequent power cuts, water-logging, traffic snarls and stinking garbage.
“It seems like we are living in a village. God save us this monsoon,” said Jayashree Dhar, a college principal.
Ratnakar Mishra, a resident of Pataliputra, whose house got flooded a day before, said, “Chanakya, the great political thinker of the Mauryan period, had once said that roads should be shaped like the back of a tortoise. Had it been done so Patna would never have had to face the problem of water-logging as it does now.”
In Naya Tola, Ramna Road, Saidpur Road, Mussalahpur haat areas, people are not only forced to wade through knee-deep water, but also suffer long hours of power cuts. “We have eventually made dark evenings and unhygienic drinking water a part of our lives,” said Vivek Singh, a student, adding, “we are being forced to buy mineral water. Living away from parents, we cannot take any risk with our health.”
Running a kids’ school in Rajendranagar, Malvika Surekha complained, “Due to water accumulation in the areas around PP Path and Moinul Haq Stadium, students are missing their classes. Vehicles face difficulty plying on these roads. So do parents and teachers. Even inside the class, frequent load-shedding is a constant irritant.”
Meera Kumar, state coordinator (Art of Living), felt the un-called for and a-symmetric increase in the height of the roads at Buddha Colony, especially in front of the Krishna Kunj apartment, will soon become a major cause of water-logging in the area.
In the areas around Langartoli, Station road and Khaitan market, chest-deep water was reported.
According to the PMC commissioner, all pumps in the city are in a working condition and after an emergency meeting yesterday, they have decided to install an additional 35 HP diesel pump at Boring Road to be used in case of power cuts. “Yesterday, we had discovered laxity in the availability of fuel, but that problem has been rectified,” said PMC commissioner Shridhar Chiruvolu.
He added that after the heavy rains, three areas have been identified: Chandmari Road, Khaitan Market and Station Road. “We have cleared several projects for these areas that will be completed within a short period,” said Chiruvolu.
PMC officials are also in touch with the road construction department and the principal secretary himself will be visiting some of these areas to ascertain the situation.
However, there are Patnaites like Mukta Singh of Kankerbagh, Tubbu of Patna City and Rakesh Prasad of Rajendra Nagar who appear quite satisfied with the arrangements made this season, as water-logging in their areas has been minimised because of advance cleaning of drains.