Bhubaneswar, Sep 23 (PTI) Days after the death of a 15-year-old boy after falling into an open drain, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) said it has decided to formulate a long-term action plan to revamp the entire drainage system of the city.

The BMC carried out a fresh assessment of urban flood vulnerability in the state capital to make the city free of the perennial waterlogging problem, its commissioner SK Singh said.

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As many as 75 locations have been identified as vulnerable to flooding during the monsoon and heavy rains in the city, he said.

"The entire drainage system will be redesigned and revamped so that it could deal with heavy rainfall," Singh said after holding a review meeting with engineers and senior officers of the civic body on Wednesday.

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The commissioner asked the engineers to find out the cause of the waterlogging in the vulnerable areas and come up with a permanent solution for it soon.

He said that long-term plans will be prepared which will involve land acquisition for the widening of the drainage channels.

The civic body will follow the guidelines of the Supreme Court, National Green Tribunal (NGT) and Pollution Control Board while revamping the drainage system of the city, he added.

Since the NGT has directed against covering natural drains, appropriate steps will be taken to prevent mishaps, the commissioner said, adding that covering drains results in increased toxicity and health hazards owing to trapped gases.

The BMC has also decided to expand drainage channels 7 and 10 on a priority basis to prevent waterlogging in New Forest Park and Bairagi Nagar areas, Singh said.

It will soon submit a proposal to the state government for the acquisition of land for expansion of these channels, he said.

The BMC's decision came amid public outrage over the death of Jyotirmaya Behera, a class 10 student who fell into the drain near Lane 7 in Shatabdi Nagar Bank Colony in Siripur amid heavy rains on Sunday.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)