PMC mulls early start to counter water woes
2 min readPatna: Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) will start monsoon preparations early this year keeping in mind the past year’s experience.
At a meeting last week attended by senior PMC officials, it was decided that drain siltation work will start by March 15 so that it gets completed by the time monsoon arrives.
This year, the municipal body is planning to bring experts from outside the state for the work. “For cleaning big manholes, we are planning to call in experts from outside Bihar,” said PMC commissioner Keshav Ranjan Prasad, adding: “Emphasis this time will be on more work getting done through machines rather than doing it manually for greater efficiency.”
The PMC has decided that work on big drains will be carried out only in the presence of engineers. Meanwhile, officers concerned have been directed to prepare estimates for every circle to get rid of waterlogging in the areas concerned. The officers from all the four circles – New Capital, Kankerbagh, Bankipore and Patliputra – have been further directed to suggest measures to solve the problem of choked drains.
Last year, two workers had lost their lives while de-silting drains, after which the PMC had fetched a de-silting machine from Ahmedabad, with the help of which manholes of Kankerbagh and Bankipore circles were cleaned. However, as the machine was big in size, work could not be carried out in smaller lanes. This year, the PMC has decided to fetch smaller machines also, a PMC official said.
When asked as to why work will start in March, the official said last year Rs 7 crore was spent on de-siltation drive. “However, the objective was not achieved, as several areas of Patna remained waterlogged for two months during monsoon,” the official said.
Courtesy: The Telegraph
