Absolute Nightmare! Water-logging Worse than Ever
Patna: Aug. 16, 2008
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Water-logging Worse than Ever
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Photo by Anupam Singh |
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With incessant rain for last four days, situation in Patna further worsened on Wednesday as water in many areas entered into homes and shops even as the people rushed to take refuge in higher areas leaving their belongings behind.
Others who were not so lucky to have alternate arrangements had to make do in 10" to 2 ft water inside their bedrooms, kitchens, and drawing rooms hoping the rain would end soon and water level would recede to bring normalcy to their lives.
Meanwhile, Patna, despite tall claims by the district officials, immersed in water in a pathetic testament of the inefficiency of the current government that, after 3 years of bashing the previous regime and after replacing one Urban Development Minister with another, is yet to figure out a way out of this annual nightmare besides continuing to pray to Lord Indra in the hope of some relief from this constant downpour.
With more rain over Patna in the past 24 hours, things became even more hellish when water, instead of receding, rose by a few more inches on many streets. Kankarbagh, Rajendra Nagar, Arya Kumar Road, Machhuatoli, Saidpur, Bahadurpur, Bhikhna Pahari, Kadam Kuan, Dariapur, Bari Path, Bakerganj, Gardanibagh, Pataliputra Colony, Shastri Nagar, Punaichak were all under 1 to 2 feet of water crippling the normal life almost entirely.
Roadside vendors who have to depend for their evening meals on their daily take from sales were seen selling their products on makeshift rafts and rickshaws while housewives stood in knee-deep water making meals and tenacious students, in a wooden island inside their homes, continued with their studies in the presence of their tutors.
Meanwhile, conventional phones in Patna have gone AWOL while power in many of these areas remains sparse, at best.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is learnt to have directed the Urban Development Minister Bhola Singh and the Patna Municipal Corporation to rid Patna from water-logging within next 36 hours – a tall order that is almost certain to have no impact.
With flood-related epidemic only days away, Singh also ordered the PMC to start spraying bleaching powder to stop mosquito colonies in water-logged areas.
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