A three-hour torrential rain deluged the entire town of Sambalpur on Monday, throwing life out of gear.
This was the first heavy downpour of the current season. The lanes and sub lanes of the city apart, most main roads of the town were marooned. The flow of water with heavy current in Budharaja road, Farm road, Gopalmal road and laxmi Talkies chowk, which are at the heart of the town, created a horrible scene and people stopped movement for a few hours to avert the possible dangers.
Even vehicles users had to keep head lights on during the day while driving and most of them preferred a roadside halting. In Budharaja, the locals had to remove a portion of the road divider that obstructed smooth flow of water.
Situation in some of the colonies and low-lying areas were grimmer. In Ambira Nagar, Saraswati Vihar, backside portion of the big bazaar in Modipara, housing board colony and many slum areas, the people couldn’t come out of home due to waterlogging. “However, after clearance of wild weeds from the Modipara bridge, there was some improvement in the situation,” informed the locals. One youth Rabi Narayan Mirdha died in larpank in Hirakud area due to lightning.
However, the requirement of relief centre and cooked food supply was not felt since water got discharged after a few hours, District Emergency Officer (DEO) SK Pujari informed.
But the locals in Modipara and Saraswati Vihar alleged that they had been appealing to the SMC and district administration for necessary action to tackle such situation due to weed and blockage of drains but no one paid heed.