Agartala witnessed unprecedented waterlogging in the wake of hours long incessant rains as almost all the civil areas, markets, roads, office complex in the heart of the city went under knee deep to waist deep water since noon.
Oldtimers say , they did not experience such a massive waterlogging in the past.
“We have not seen such waterlogging in the past. Some areas like Ramnagar etc where never water got logged , this time water went up inside the homes too”, said one.
As the entire city, all its entry and exit points and roada got submerged total chaos and uncertainty descended. Not only the life went into a standstill, all vehicles got stranded before entering the city, people -especially women -faced severe problems as they had to wade through knee deep water to reach home or other destinations.
With rain water inundating city roads, many a parked vehicles and road side vendor carts went under the water.
The unprecedented waterlogging once again proved that the city drainage system as well as pump houses over the years did not improve and still unable to meet the situation after heavy rains.
The idea of Smart city came crushing under the weight of the rain water. While the sufferings of common people were severe, the most affected were the traders whose business establishments also went under the water.
As the Agartala city witnessed a flood-like situation, several boats were pressed into service for movement of the people.
Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha, ex-Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb, Mayor of Agartala Municipal Corporation Dipak Majumder, AMC Commissioner Dr Sailesh Yadav and other officials visited several water-logged places and held discussions with the authorities concerned for taking necessary steps to flush out the rain water.
After taking stock of the situation, the Chief Minister passed some instructions to the officials concerned.
He stressed on increasing the number of pumps, installing generator set/ diesel-run pump as an alternative of electric pumps, construction of dam at Ranjit Nagar and at the backside of Ramthakur Ashram, dredging of Kata Khal and improving the drainage system, and dredging of the river Howrah to get rid of overflows.
