Varanasi: The Varanasi Municipal Corporation (VMC) launched an immediate response on Monday morning after heavy rain triggered waterlogging in several parts of the city, with municipal commissioner Himanshu Nagpal personally monitoring the operation. Nagpal coordinated the Engineering, Health and Jal Kal departments to ensure a swift response.The Jalkal department was directed to inspect the condition of drains while the health department was asked to clean gully pits, and the engineering department immediately deployed pumps in low-lying areas.Due to the heavy rain, garbage had accumulated at the mouths of gully pits in many parts of the city, obstructing the flow of water. Civic teams cleaned gully pits at more than a dozen places, including Sarnath Museum Road and Daniyalpur Idgah Road. Once the blockages were removed, rainwater drained out within about half an hour.To accelerate drainage, sewer chambers were opened at several locations, including Saraswati Nagar on Kashi Vidyapeeth Road, in front of Vikas Bhavan and on Sigra-Fatman Road. At Andharapul, which is prone to waterlogging during heavy rain, no major accumulation of water was reported, though a pump remained stationed there as a precaution.Besides, water was pumped out in low-lying areas, including Sindhuriya Colony (Maheshpur). At the same time, a drain-cleaning campaign was carried out on war-footing in Phulwariya, Kotwa and Nayi Basti. To permanently free the city from waterlogging, the municipal corporation has also taken a decision on construction works. Under this, it has been decided to construct new drains near Sigra Big Bazaar and in Gandhi Nagar (Sigra), so that water does not accumulate again in these commercial and residential areas.“For some time, waterlogging had developed at some places due to heavy rain, but the relief is that, owing to the Municipal Corporation’s alertness, all the water drained out within a few hours,” Nagpal said.
