Cong’s flood treatment for NHAI office

BHUBANESWAR: Protesting water-logging on National Highway 16 in front of Iskcon temple after the recent rains, Congress activists on Monday barged into the office of Project Director, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) here and sprayed water in the building, flooding it.

The protestors shouted slogans before discharging water from a tanker using a hose pipe on the ground floor.

Soon, they went to the first floor and other parts of the building and repeated the act leaving the office flooded. The protest at the NHAI office comes after NH-16 in front of Iskcon temple was inundated for two successive days following showers which left several cars floating and the route blocked for traffic.
While rains have exposed the shabby drainage system in the Capital City, both NHAI and the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) are at loggerheads over the issue, blaming each other for the persistent problem. “We had asked NHAI for a survey of the service roads along NH-16 which are the worst affected stretches during rains but to no avail,” a BMC official said.

The BMC said, construction of a drainage and a culvert near Syed Mumtaz Ali High School has started which would help discharge storm water from the roads through the drain.
Bhubaneswar Mayor Ananta Narayan Jena said, Works Department has been requested for a survey on the water-logging issues in the service roads along the NH-16.

Meanwhile, in the evening a team of NHAI officials, led by Project Director Biju Patir, inspected the road in front of Iskcon Temple and its opposite side for identifying the loopholes which are leading to the drains getting over flooded in the area.

“NHAI’s responsibility is to construct the drains so that the water on the carriageways gets discharged. And, the drains have been constructed in the service roads along the National Highway,” Patir told The Express.