Fraser Road suffers from stinking woes

Patna: Overflowing drains are not a new sight in Patna, but of late it has become a nuisance for shopkeepers who have their establishments and professionals who have their workplace -- on Fraser Road. Sewage water has spilled on to the road and made it difficult for people to walk, park their vehicles or even stand for a second.
"Stagnant sewage on such an important road used several times in a day by VVIPs is a pointer to the laxity of our civic authorities," fumed Savita Sinha while coming out of a shopping mall."It stinks and it is so is unhygienic. The parking space is wet with stinking water and it is painful to park your four-wheelers anywhere near those spaces," she said.
Most of the shopkeepers and building owners have laid bricks in a row to access their shops or buildings. Patna high court lawyer K N Singh, who has his office in Sheohar Sadan on the road, expressed unhappiness over the functioning of the city civic body. "We pay our taxes on time. But what do we get in return?" he asked angrily.
Singh, who has been running pillar to post to get rid of the dirty water woes, told TOI this did not happen in a day. Actually the sewage pipe of this area was dismantled and only box drains, which are actually meant to carry rainwater, were used to carry the sewer waste. As a result, all the commercial complexes connected their sanitary sewer pipes to these box drains.
According to him, the Bihar Urban Infrastructure Development Corporation (BUIDCo) during Durga Puja last year laid metal sewer pipes and, in the process, damaged the box drains as well as the drinking water pipeline of the locality. "We were told at that time that the pipes would be repaired after the election. But just before the oath- taking ceremony of Nitish Kumar government, concrete road was laid, and no one cared about the pipe repairs."
Singh said way back in 1998, the drains were connected to then radio station drain. However, when waterlogging hit Chajju Bagh locality, municipal workers simply disconnected both the drains and the drain near the Snacks Corner was connected to the Bihar School Examination Board office drain, which was on the higher side. With passing years, the silt filled the entire sewerage system leading to its collapse.
The lawyer said he had been to the Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) and BUIDCo many times and met many officers. "I was told by the PMC that BUIDCo was responsible for the repairs because the problem was created by it. BUIDCo officials told me that any scheme to repair the drainage pipeline was yet to be prepared," he said regretting that he was now left with two options: either suffer in silence or move the high court.
PMC commissioner Jai Singh said the drain restoration work would take at least six months' time. "We have asked BUIDCo to start the work immediately so that it could be completed as soon as possible," he said.