Bhopal: City Struggles With Blocked Sewers; BMC Gets 250 Plaints Daily

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The state capital is grappling with a growing crisis of blocked sewers as monsoon rains expose city’s weak drainage infrastructure.

On an average, Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) call centre receives more than 250 complaints about choked drains every day. However, less than 50% of these complaints are resolved promptly due to shortage of manpower and machinery.

With a population of 25 lakh, the city currently depends on just 10 sewage jetting combination machines and only 7 assistant engineers to tackle the issue. This limited set-up is inadequate, specially during monsoon with complaints piling up daily.

The problem lies in poor pre-monsoon cleaning of drains and sewer lines. As a result, sewage overflows the drains on main roads and in residential colonies leading to waterlogging after short spells of rain. The worst-affected areas include Rohit Nagar and Laxmi Parisar in Bawadiya Kalan where school vans recently got stuck in floodwater. A rescue team had to be deployed to evacuate children safely.

Despite claims by sewage cell that 95% of complaints are resolved within 24 hours, residents wait up to four days for action. Officials say that complaints received by noon are usually addressed the same day but the ground reality is different.

Bhopal is divided into 21 zones and 85 wards. The call centre receives three complaints per ward every day. This translates to approximately 255 complaints daily from across the city.

Available machines

The BMC’s available machinery includes 10 jetting machines, 4 large suction tankers, and 16 smaller units including tractor-trolleys. There are 163 sanitation workers who are overburdened.

96 places identified

About 96 places have been identified in the city where waterlogging occurs every time during rains. In areas like Alpana Tiraha, Rohit Nagar, waterlogging is up to two feet deep.

BMC executive engineer RK Trivedi said. "There is no resource shortage. 90% of complaints are disposed of within 24 hours. As soon as the project of the new sewage line is completed, 70%-80% of these daily complaints will be resolved permanently."