Agartala civic body initiates study to find causes of recent flooding

Agartala: The Agartala Municipal Corporation has initiated a study to find the major causes of unprecedented flood-like situation in the city, triggered by pre-monsoon rains on May 19 last, a senior official of the Agartala Municipal Corporation said.

Speaking in the condition of anonymity, the official said, “We were confident that the water accumulated in the city areas will recede within half an hour. But, surprisingly this time, even after the rain stopped, the water level continued to rise. This shocking development prompted us to ponder over the issue very seriously. This is why an in-depth study is being carried out by the Agartala Municipal Corporation to ascertain the key reasons.”

Initially, he said, the AMC had found out that a sluice gate installed at Ratannagar, which is responsible for drawing water from Akhaura canal to Katakhal canal, turned defunct.

“There are four outlines through which the water of the city passes in the rainy season. First of all—Howrah river and other three are Katakhal, Akhaura and Kalapania canals. Any obstruction in these canals may cause serious problems for the city. On the day of rain, all these canals were brimming with water. Even all the 13 pumps installed in selected parts of the city were working at full capacity and we have videographic evidence for that. Even if the sluice gate is defunct, the situation should’t have been like what we faced,” said the official.

“As per the records of IMD, the city received over 180 millimeters of rainfall on that day which is a record in itself. We have sought rainfall data of the last 10 years to compare the pattern of rains. It is the beginning of the rainy season and we need to take all the precautions to ensure that such flood-like situation doesn’t happen again,” source said.

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