It is quite unfortunate that despite big claims and promise of transforming the City of Temples into a Smart City, the problem of inundation of scores of areas in the vicinity remains there as every spell of heavy rain brings along misery and hardships for the residents of the areas facing flooding due to poor planning of the city and misuse of the natural drainage system.
It is intriguing that in many areas, the civic bodies have spent crores of rupees in the recent past assuring that the problem of floods during rainy season will be mitigated but on ground things remained same as ever as sludge could be seen covering the streets, houses and other places after brief spells of rains in many parts of Nanak Nagar, Gandhi Nagar, Nai Basti, etc.
As many drains, small and big, were repaired with a hope to counter inundation, the flooding in the aforesaid areas have proved that the entire exercise remained useless as nothing substantial has been achieved. The government should first set the accountability for wasting the exchequer as almost all the Nallahs and small drains constructed did not serve any purpose as things remained as they were earlier.
It is really concerning that in monsoon season the people living in the flood affected areas have to face damage of property multiple times as measures taken to stop the rain waters from entering their houses and business establishments are inadequate because the problem has lately become gigantic. Those who have recommended the reconstructions of Nallahs, etc in the recent past should be made answerable for their designs proving defunct and leading to drainage of funds.
All said and done, the present critical situation in the low lying areas of the city is something which seems to be without any solution as the government has drastically failed in implementing anything which may bail out the people from the colossal problem of flooding every rainy season. It could be said that the people of the affected areas will have to live with this problem forever as the people sitting at helm have nothing in offing to find a panacea for channelizing the rain waters through drains in a way that the same remains in the limits and should not enter the places dwelled by the people wreaking havoc here and there.
It is high time for a comprehensive and genuine approach to finally put an end to the seasonal cycle of misery and loss.
