Patna: With heavy rain lashing the city and the Ganga and Punpun continuing to rise, the Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) and Buidco have stepped up round-the-clock monitoring and drainage measures.According to a PMC communique issued on Saturday, civic teams remained active during the rain and cleared waterlogging from several major areas within about an hour after the showers stopped. Drainage was carried out in Khaitan Market, Rajendra Nagar, Patliputra, Gandhi Maidan, City Chowk, Karbigahia and Chiraiyatand Bridge, it said.Municipal commissioner Yashpal Meena inspected several locations, including Kurji, Gosain Tola, Gate No. 83, Saidpur Sump, Krishna Ghat, Yogipur Sump, NBCC Sump, Karbigahia, Airport Road and Khanua Nala. He directed officials to keep adequate pump sets on standby at all locations and ensure continuous monitoring of drainage arrangements.Buidco managing director Animesh Kumar Parashar directed officials to keep major drainage pumping stations (DPSs) along the Ganga and Punpun under 24×7 monitoring. The stations have been activated at full capacity to drain water from large parts of the city into the Ganga.Buidco is monitoring seven major DPSs, including Kurji, Mandiri, Rajapur, Anta Ghat and Gosai Tola along the Ganga, and Khanpur and Barmutta TDPSs along the Punpun. Kurji DPS, the largest, has a pumping capacity of 10,440 litres per second.As a contingency, 39 DG sets are operational at permanent DPSs to ensure drainage during power disruptions. Of the 56 operational DPSs, 16 have dedicated electricity feeders.Parashar has also directed officials to ensure continuous cleaning of gratings, particularly at night, to prevent plastic bags, tyres, tubes and other waste from obstructing pump inflows. Buidco has prepared a DPR for installing automatic grating-cleaning machines at 52 old DPSs, after deploying the system at eight new modern stations.
