Patna: A brief 30-minute rainfall in Patna on Friday caused waterlogging, leading to mud accumulation on roads across the city due to ongoing construction projects. Low-lying areas were affected, causing disruption in daily life.

The situation has raised concerns among residents about the city's preparedness for the upcoming monsoon season.The Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) and Bihar Urban Infrastructure Development Corporation (Buidco) identified 33 locations susceptible to waterlogging during this year's monsoon season.Several posh areas, including the legislative assembly, high court and airport, are among the vulnerable zones.

The affected areas are distributed across different sectors: six locations in Pataliputra, and five each in New Capital, Kankarbagh, Azimabad, Patna City, and Bankipore regions, according to officials.Several roads in Patna are witnessing digging activities due to ongoing projects. The repair and restoration of these roads are progressing at a slow pace. Despite the directive to complete the restoration by June 6, many roads remain in a bad condition.

Light rainfall of Friday has made these roads difficult to navigate in localities like Rajendra Nagar road no. 2, Lohanipur, Ashiana-Digha Road, Patliputra Colony, New Market, Mithapur, Khaitan Market, and other low-lying areas.Road construction minister Nitin Nabin said, "There are two types of roads in the city, one is under the road construction department (RCD), while others under the PMC. Adhering to the deadline of June 6, almost all the roads under the RCD were made motorable after the construction works by the Buidco and other agencies."According to a BUIDCO official, the corporation instructed the restoration of 11.380 km of roads in 42 areas of the city. To monitor the situation, BUIDCO established a temporary control room at the Integrated Command and Control Centre. "The control room is equipped with 16 cameras for real-time surveillance of flood-prone areas. Staff members will work in three shifts to ensure round-the-clock monitoring of the situation," he said.The municipal authorities are implementing alternative arrangements to manage potential waterlogging issues. This preventive measure comes as a response to yesterday's rainfall, which exposed the city's vulnerability to waterlogging even after a short spell of rain. In some areas like Rajendra Nagar road no. 2 and Congress Maidan Road's link path the work was done haphazardly, leading to mud accumulation on roads.According to official sources, "Buidco submitted a list of dug-up roads to the road construction department in three phases. The list includes three roads in the first phase (1,199 m), 18 roads in the second phase (3,642 m), and 21 roads in the third phase (6,556 m)."