After the continuous five days heavy rain that has disarray the lives and conversely exposed the preparedness of the Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC) that is yet to fully resolve the water-logging problem.
Not only the residents but also several ward councillors have been waiting for assistance from the Civic Body since Monday after receiving complaints from the people. Interestingly, it is not only one or two wards in the Capital City that is facing the water logging problem after the heavy downpour but almost every ward is dealing with similar situation in the absence of basic amenities provided by the Municipal Corporation.
“Forget about any assistance from the Municipal Corporation’s side, even the toll-free number launched by the civic body is not reachable despite making several attempts. At the moment, we are utilizing the ward labourers to clear the water logging. Ironically, we just have three labourers for ward 37 on the total strength of more than one lakh people. Even, after July 24, none of the zonal supervisors have come for inspection,” said ward councilor, Arun Jha.
Jha who had till date received more than 100 calls from the colony residents further stated that all these arrangements that are being ensured for public convenience is the preparatory measures that already exist. No additional facilities have been added to deal with this heavy water logging problem that has choked the city.
“As per the reports published in the newspapers, all the facilities already exist. For all 55 wards, four enforcement teams are already lending their services considering the requirement of the area. Moreover, despite several claims that are made by the Municipal Corporation officials, they are yet to deploy sufficient number of labourers to deal with the crisis forget about vehicles facilities.” added Jha.
Notably, considering the heavy torrential rain, the Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC) few days back launched a toll-free number and added extra human resource besides including some vehicles to clear the mess. In April 2017, RMC officials had assured that it would complete the drainage system task before the onset of monsoon but the project has been lingering since long.
According to the plans, approximately 400 new drains were supposed to be constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 15 crore. Tenders were also floated for the construction of the new drains and now the civic body officials claim that the project is being delayed due to some technical reasons. Meanwhile, Additional Municipal Commissioner, Divyanshu Jha, said, “looking at the conditions, we have increased our resources. The enforcement teams have been instructed to be on toe for 24x7. We have also asked the supervisors to submit a detailed report of the areas falling under their jurisdiction. We are also preparing a list of all the complaints received and have been dealt by far.”
For dealing the water logging problem, the enforcement teams have been divided into major and minor groups. Accordingly, the resources have been allotted to the teams considering the size of the areas of each zone. The teams have been also instructed to prepare a pre audit report so that lapse can be resolved, stated Jha.
Due to continuous rainfall, water-logging in various colonies have also resulted in traffic gridlock in some areas. A resident of Saket Vihar colony, said, “Most of the drains in the colony are chocked. We have been constantly requesting RMC enforcement team members to clear the mess but none of the labourers have been sent by the civic body.”