SHILLONG: Deputy Chief Minister in- charge of PWD Prestone Tynsong said the construction of a drain will hopefully solve the problem of flooding at Umlyngkdait, Ri-Bhoi.
He was replying to the zero hour notice moved by Congress MLA Mayralborn Syiem on flooding at Umlyngkdait wherein there was water logging during heavy rainfall on September 10.
He informed that Project Director NHAI has inspected the site and proposal for construction of another drain of 3.0mx3.0m size will be taken up at this location to drain away the excess water flowing through the culvert at 28+850/880 km and this will solve the problem of backflow of water from the existing longitudinal drain on RHS and help discharge the water quickly and efficiently, and thus reduce the chance of any further flooding on the village.
Tynsong informed that the flooding happened due to the fact that the village road is at a lower level than the highway and surrounding area in Umlyngkdait.
Rain water flowing down towards the highway from the large catchment area on LHS crosses the highway through the HP culvert at 25+960 km.
He added that after passing through the culvert, water discharges into longitudinal drain on RHS of highway and flows into the natural course at 28+850 km. Due to the increase in volume of water of large catchment area, the water surges up in the drain which tends to block the water flowing from LHS through the said culvert.
Due to slow down in discharge through the culvert, water level of LHS rises and inundates low lying areas of the village including the approach road.
On the other hand, Tynsong said the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) informed that a joint inspection was conducted between NHAI and the local MLA and other concerned departments to identify the problem of flooding in and around Nongpoh town.
Estimate was prepared for widening of drains to cater to the flood water of the area to avoid flooding during heavy rain and tender for widening of drains at Nongpoh town from 26+450 km to 29+040 km in stretches has been floated and work will start as soon as name of contractor is finalised. With widening of drains at Nongpoh, the problem of flooding at that area will be resolved.
Meanwhile, Syiem urged the department to expedite the work and speed up the construction of drain and cross drain in Nongpoh.
