The Odisha Assembly standing committee on Housing and Urban Development (H&UD) department on Tuesday decided to make special fund allocation for covering open drains in the Twin City.
The decision was taken at a high-level meeting held today to discuss the drainage issues in the Twin cities of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack in which top civic officials were in attendance. BJD MLA Prafulla Samal chaired the meeting.
The panel decided to cover all open drains with slabs and make special fund allocation for the purpose. Besides, illegal encroachments over drains will be removed.
Speaking to media persons after the meeting, committee member and Congress MLA from Cuttack-Barabati Mohammad Moquim said, "Thorough discussion was held on the drainage system of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar. The BMC and CMC authorities placed detailed plans for improvement of the drainage system."
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"Decision has been taken to cover open drains, install 10-feet-high net on both sides of drains, eviction of encroachments from drains and enhancement of catchment areas," Moquim added.
It can be mentioned here that the death of a 15-year-old school student after being swept away in an open drain in Shatabdi Nagar area of Bhubaneswar last month had triggered widespread uproar.
Both BJP and the Congress party had held protests over the tragic drain mishap and blamed the callousness of the civic officials for the tragedy.