Channelising storm water on Solan civic body agenda

Ambika Sharma

Solan, December 13

In a bid to prevent flooding and disaster-like situation in the city, the Solan municipal corporation will undertake channelisation of storm water.

Having learnt a lesson after facing colossal damage to the infrastructure in the monsoon rains, the civic body has woken up to initiate preventive measures.

Project cost pegged at Rs 3.53 cr

• The project cost, which has been pegged at Rs 3.53 crore, will be met through the State Disaster Management Authority with the preliminary approval having been accorded in November
• A detailed project report is being prepared now, which will be presented before the technical committee for its final approval
• Slew of strategies like cross-drainages, rivulet training structures, storm water drain, reservoirs and storage drains will be constructed to prevent flooding of the city
• The project, slated to be completed within a six months, will benefit about 15,000 people who will be relieved of the reoccurring damage caused every monsoon

Slew of strategies like cross-drainages, rivulet training structures, storm water drain, reservoirs and storage drains would be constructed to prevent flooding of the city.

The project cost, which has been pegged at Rs 3.53 crore, will be met through the State Disaster Management Authority with the preliminary approval having been accorded by the project approval committee in November.

A detailed project report is being prepared now, which will be presented before the technical committee for its final approval.

Notably, the recent rains not only caused sizable damage to the houses and buildings of residents owing to flooding of storm water, but it was seen that little expansion of the civic infrastructure to mitigate such problems has taken place in the last several years.

Elaborating upon the project, Solan MC Commissioner Zaffar Iqbal said: “During the rainy season, the roads of the city are flooded with water, which also enters the shops and houses of the people thus inflicting huge damage.”

“Presently we have v-shape small drains, which get clogged due to the vehicular movement and silt settlement during the monsoons. The storm water therefore aggravates the hardships of the local residents,” explained Iqbal.

In a bid to overcome this problem, U-shaped storm water drains are being proposed to mitigate the threat of flooding of city during heavy rains. Additionally, this will also provide a footpath to the residents for safe commuting in the city.

The storm water drains along the road shall be made in accordance to the discharge report of the Meteorological Department. Rivulet training works such as cross-drainages and channlisation of nullah will also be undertaken.

The project, slated to be completed within a six months, will benefit about 15,000 people who will be relieved of the reoccurring damage caused every monsoon.

Five sites of 8.85 km comprising Old DC office to Shamti, Saproon-Chambaghat, Saproon-Deonghat, Kotla Nallah-DC residence and Deoghat (ward No. 1) would be covered in the project.