Having drawn flak from all quarters for storm water flooding homes and roads in the state capital here, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday put the blame on the National Highway Authority of India and shot off a letter to Union Minister Nitin Gadkari.

The flooding of service lane of NH-16 near ISKCON temple between CRP Square and Nayapalli here is due to construction of solid high embankment without providing discharge points and ventages, he said.

NHAI authorities have been intimated time and again about the concern, said the CM in his letter to Gadkari. Constructing solid high embankments instead of viaducts aggravates the drainage issues by concentrating the rain water into the valleys aggravates the drainage issues by.

Similar situation is also occurring near Jaydev Vihar square, Rasulgarh or Palasuni and Pahala on NH-16.

NHAI authorities have been requested to construct a drain along the service lane from ISKON area to Vani Vihar area for smooth discharge of the rain water and provide similar provisions near Rasulgarh/ Palasuni and Pahala on NH-16.

But the issues have not yet been addressed and the situation is getting bad to worse said the CM. He requested Mr Gadkari to intervene for an early solution. It may be noted here that initially the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation ( BMC) had blamed the NHAI which in turn had dismissed the charge saying it is not responsible for the drain work.

The NHAI had reacted when there was a public outrage and the Congress activists had engaged a water tanker to pump water in to the NHAI office here saying when people’s homes are flooded the NHAI office needs to suffer the same.

The blame game has been furthered with the CM raising the charge and dashing off a letter to Gadkari. While the mudslinging goes on, people of Bhubaneswar are sure to suffer this monsoon as the works will go through the tender process and construction activity during rains is bound to be slow.

Meanwhile, the BMC which has also been facing the warth of the people has been jolted to action and has announced seven new drain projects. Bhubaneswar One unified Helpline number launched for all city services of BMC, BSCL, BDA and CRUT.

It launched Bhubaneswar One helpline, a unified 24X7 number to address citizens’ grievance for BMC, BSCL, BDA and CRUT (Capital Region Urban Transport). Citizens can now call up the single toll free number 1800 345 0061 or Landline number 0674 2548295 to register their complaints and grievances regarding all services provided by the four city agencies BMC, BSCL, BDA and CRUT.

In another significant development which can help contain the recurring waterlogging issue in Acharya Vihar area in the city, the state government on Wednesday approved construction of box cell storm water drain connecting Drainage Channel no. 4, near Acharya Vihar, at a cost of Rs. 5.5 crores.

In a letter issued on Wednesday by H&UD Dept., BMC Commissioner has been intimated about the approval of the tender proposal for the work, submitted by the civic body on 11 July.