Rain exposes Muzaffarpur civic body’s claims

MUZAFFARPUR: Several neighbourhoods of the town witnessed heavy waterlogging on Monday and exposed the Muzaffarpur Municipal Corporation (MMC), which has been preparing to meet the standards of a Smart City. The town was included in Smart City Mission two years ago. The MMC had claimed “no waterlogging this year”.
But the residents cursed the MMC and district administration officials for their lethargic attitude.“Not only the callous attitude of the officials, but unplanned road construction works and sewerage works have made life hell,” said advocate Ashok Kumar of road number 2 in Padaw Pokhar lane at Aghoria Bazar.
Many residents complained they had to go to their workplace or drop their children to schools through waterlogged streets. The condition was pathetic in localities such as Gola Bandh road, Subhas Nagar, Station Road, Jawahar Lal Road, Motijheel, Kalyani Chowk and Islampur.
Despite being one of the promising centres of real estate activities, the authorities are yet to develop proper sewerage and drainage network. The town is still connected by kuchha ‘nullahs’ (drains).
“The street in our colony has been inundated with rainwater since Sunday evening. It becomes more risky after sunset thanks to non-existent street lights and potholes on the roads,” said Sanjay Srivastav of Gola Bandh Road.
Realtors attributed the unplanned urban development to lack of government regulation. “Urbanization is a natural process and it is the government’s responsibility to ensure planned development. But successive state governments failed to develop basic civic infrastructure over the past two decades. The authorities failed to construct drains and roads but allowed the construction of houses,” said Ashwini Gupta, a real estate developer.
There are 49 wards in MMC with a population of around 3.5 lakh (2011 census).
When contacted, MMC commissioner Santosh Kumar Dubey said all necessary efforts were being made to drain the rainwater as soon as possible. “The construction of drainage network under the Smart City mission started a little late due to some technical reasons. It will be completed very soon,” he assured.
However, rain in the rural areas has brought cheer on the faces of farmers as they have started cultivation work on time. “Thanks to the rain god that we can now hope for a better produce this kharif season after failed Rabi crop,” said Abdul Waquar of Bochaha.