Monsoon misery returns to haunt western part of city

PATNA: The residents of western part of the state capital have not forgotten the waterlogging following incessant rain last year. With the first spell of monsoon rain lashing Patna overnight on Thursday, the last year’s misery has started haunting them again as rainwater entered their premises on Friday morning.
Subodh Singh, a retired police officer and resident of Vivek Vihar colony off Gola Road, woke up in the morning to find almost all houses in the locality surrounded by a pool of water.“I had to wade through knee-deep water to reach the milk booth. It is frightening. When only the first smart shower of this monsoon left about 75 houses of this colony surrounded by water, we can well imagine the scenario in the days to come,” he said.
Keshav Jha of the same colony said lack of drainage led to such a situation last year and even things today stood as it were there. “Since heavy rain filled the gaps between lanes and low-lying vacant spaces, mostly used for dumping of garbage, leech and reptiles have a free access to our premises with waterlogging,” he said.
If taken together the residential areas on both sides of Gola Road, at least 25 colonies had to bear with the hellish condition after the incessant rain.
Bhup Narayan Pathak of Arpana Bank Colony phase-II said all lanes were under rainwater as there were no drains. “We were hopeful of getting some relief this monsoon, but no drainage network could come up till date,” he added.
Punam Cooperative Colony resident Alakh Sharma, Asha Lata Shrivastav and Amrendra Kumar Sinha also stated that though residents had temporarily developed some lanes with brick fillings through contributions, lack of drainage has led to the similar situation this year.
Rajesh Sharma, a trader of Gola Road, said even the service lanes parallel to Bailey Road is not walkable due to the garbage piled up after clearing the drains has spread all over. He said the roads and lanes in Visveswaraya Nagar were submerged in waterlogging.
Admitting people’s miseries in these new colonies, numbering around 50, Patliputra MP Ram Kripal Yadav said soon after getting complaints from people, he personally asked the officials to clear water from near Sonu Market and Sainik Colony in the morning. “Though the chief minister had issued directions to make Patna, including Danapur area, free from the problem of waterlogging, the executing agencies failed to come up with satisfactory works,” he said.
The MP feared that if the officials and agencies concerned failed in taking up their tasks sincerely, residents of these colonies might face a condition worse than the last year.