Rain after anti-encroachment drive cripples normal life in Mansa

Normal life in the city came to a standstill after early morning showers as the rain led to waterlogging in many parts of the city. This was the first heavy downpour of the season lasting for at least two hours.

The city always had a drainage problem, but this time the people had to face a tougher time due to the non-lifting of garbage and heaps of concrete that came up after the demolition of illegal encroachments.

The district authorities had recently launched a drive to demolish all the illegal constructions but, later, stopped it mid way after facing protests from the shopkeepers.

The garbage, collected from the drains, is still lying in the open and after the showers, it disturbed the flow of water and streets were inundated making movement of the people difficult for a long time.

Though the administration claims to have a concrete plan to solve the drainage problem, their decision to start the anti- encroachment drive in the monsoon season is facing severe criticism from the locals.

"Every time this happens, it is the common people who have to suffer the most because no plan of the
administration meets its end ever. The drains have been lying open for the last 3-4 days and the rain has only added to our woes," said one of the locals.

However, the deputy commissioner, defending the action, said that the demolition work won't stop. "We have not stopped our drive against encroachers. We are only waiting for the sewerage department to clean and clear the drains which were made encroachment-free."