Temporary sump houses will come up in Patna before monsoon: UDHD

PATNA: Two dozen new sump houses will be temporarily made ready before the onset of monsoon in the state capital this year. Also, the nine major drains and four underground drains will be cleaned by an outsourced agency in three phases, Urban Development and Housing Department (UDHD) secretary Anand Kishor said on Tuesday.
He was briefing the media regarding steps taken to tackle waterlogging problem in the city during monsoon. Kishor said the instruction to construct 17 new sump houses was given by the high-level committee formed by the government in October last year to find out the cause behind unprecedented waterlogging and its remedies. Apart from that, UDHD has earmarked 12 other places for the construction of new sump houses, of which seven will be made functional before this monsoon.
“It takes 12 to 18 months to complete a sump house. Hence, a raised platform will be made and motors will be installed on it as a short-term measure. There will be a well-like structure with inlet and outlet for drainage of water. This will start working before the monsoon,” said Kishor.
UDHD has also tasked Bihar Urban Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (BUIDCO) to finish the civil work related to 38 old sump houses by June. It had allocated Rs10 crore for that. The department is also coordinating with the energy department to install feeder in all the existing sump houses by June this year.
Taking a lesson from last year’s waterlogging, all the sump houses will have additional motors and there will also be diesel motors to be used in case of power cut. The existing sump houses will be operated and maintained by the private agencies. “Tender has been done recently. Apart from operating, contract for annual maintenance and repair for three years will soon be awarded,” said Kishor.
Since the committee found slush in the major drains as one of the reasons for waterlogging, Kishor said these drains will be cleaned by private agencies in three stages during pre-monsoon, monsoon and post monsoon. “We are benchmarking the depth of major drains at every 100 metres. A joint team of the district administration and Patna Municipal Corporation will inspect the drainage cleaning with the help of this benchmarking. Payment will be released to the agency only after the inspection. Strict action will be taken against those who are found responsible for any lapses,” he added.
Apart from major drains, nine underground drains on which UDHD is focusing this time include the one from Kautilya Nagar to Nepali Nagar, Hartali Mor to Rajapur Pul, SK Puri to Anandpuri via Mohanpur sump house and from CDA Building to Saidpur sump house. Sources said there was no record of these underground drains being cleaned earlier and super-suction machines will be purchased to clean them. The small drains will be handled by the Patna Municipal Corporation.
Places where temporary sump houses are proposed
NCC field in Saidpur, near Sheetla Mandir, east of Digha Canal, Mithapur institutional area, Nand Lal Chhapra Chowk, Karmalichak, south of Bypass, Bazar Samiti (construction is going on), Beur-Betaura, Jaganpura, Dashratha, east Ram Krishna Nagar, Ghurdaur, Khagaul Lakh, Karauri Chak, Isopur Brahmsthan, Rajeev Nagar, Gosai Tola, Nand Gaon, Sabri Tola, Abhimanyu Nagar in Danapur, near Barmutta sluice and near Khanpur sluice