Low-lying areas in Indore on high alert

Given the conditions of heavy rains over the past few days, the Indore district administration and Municipal Corporation have ordered all its ranks to stay alert to tackle any type of eventuality.

Given the conditions of heavy rains over the past few days, the Indore district administration and Municipal Corporation has ordered all its ranks to stay alert to tackle any type of eventuality.

Overflowing water from Chota Sirpur Lake inundated Gwala Colony in Indore on Sunday. (Shankar Mourya/HT)

On Saturday evening, the district administration issued a communique to all its officers to keep a vigil in their respective areas after the Met department's warning about heavy rains in the coming 48 hours.

The officials were also directed to cancel their leaves (if any) and stay alert on duty until the prevailing conditions subside in the region.
"With skies showing no signs of giving way to clear weather, I instructed all ranks to stay alert 24x7 to handle any kind of emergency arising due to incessant rains," said Manish Singh, the city's municipal commissioner.

Many low-lying areas in the city such as Kushwaha Nagar, Nand Bagh Colony, CP Shekhar Nagar, Geeta Nagar, Sangam Nagar, Sirpur Lake and its surrounding areas have been kept on high alert.

"We are ready for temporary evacuation, if it needs to be done in these areas," said an IMC official.

The commissioner said, "As of now, the situation is under control. We are employing all our resources to deal with the situation."

The process for permanent resettlement of slum dwellers of CP Shekhar Nagar, Bhagirath Pura and Kabutar Khana, where submergence is a common feature every year, is still going on and will be concluded by the end of this year, said an official.

However, the corporation is facing criticism for the poor condition of roads and the city's sewerage system. Recently, the Indore bench of high court also slapped notices on the corporation for the condition of roads in the city.

A senior official of the corporation said, "In existing rainy conditions, it is impossible to fill potholes on the roads, we are waiting for the rains to subside so we can start with repair works."

The corporation is also in the process of topographically mapping the entire city to understand the its drainage system that has failed to function well due to heavy rains, and identifying major blockades obstructing the flow of rainwater.