Bareilly: When Mumbai, the financial capital of the country, gets stuck in waterlogging every year, how can you expect Bareilly to be free from it during the monsoon, is Mayor IS Tomar’s reaction when asked about preparedness to face the coming rains.Every year, several low lying pockets the in the old city like Madinath, Sanjay Nagar, Subhash Nagar, Izzat Nagar, Gulab Nagar, Biharipur Dhaal, Shanti Vihar, Haziyapur and Naikpur are inundated with rain water when it pours. Like previous years, this year too, there is seems to be no plan, no preparation and no roadmap by either Bareilly Municipal Corporation (BMC) or Bareilly Development Authority (BDA) to deal with the ordeals residents have to face due to waterlogging in the monsoon.One of the causes of waterlogging are choked drains which overflow. While BMC commissioner Rajesh Kumar Shrivastav claims that over 75% of drains have been desilted, many corporators and residents say the cleaning exercise is conducted “merely on paper”.When asked, Mayor Tomar tried to explain, “We have very limited resources and funds to deal with problems arising because of the monsoon. Yes, it is correct that every year, waterlogging turns Maninath and Subhash Nagar turn into a mess. The situation will remain the same this year too. We are yet to buy a pump-set to suck water out from these areas. For that, a proposal will be tabled in the next financial year.”Having said that, Tomar turns his attention to blaming the BDA for “this menace”. He says, “BDA officials approve of new colonies without properly planning drainage and sewerage systems. Over the years, such negligence results in causing major problems for civic authorities and administration alike.”Rejecting the mayor’s allegations as “senseless”, BDA chief engineer Ajay Singh, told TOI, “One can visit anytime colonies like Mahanagar, DD Puram and other developed by the BDA during the monsoon. There is no waterlogging problem in BDA-approved colonies as we give our approval to any colony once the coloniser has laid down sewer lines and proper drainage system.”While the officials concerned are busy blaming one another for the problem, even posh localities like Civil Lines, Model Town and Rampur Garden are not free of waterlogging during monsoon.

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