AK Sharma Calls for Lasting Waterlogging Fix After Andhrapul and Durgakund Visit

VARANASI: Urban Development Minister A. K. Sharma has asked municipal officials to work towards permanent solutions to waterlogging after inspecting Andhrapul and Durgakund late on Saturday, September 12. His directions covered both the response during rainfall and the condition of the drainage network.

Sharma told officials that teams should be active while it is raining, with enough pumps available to remove accumulated water. He also stressed the cleaning of manholes and drainage chambers, rather than relying only on pumping after a location has filled up.

Additional Municipal Commissioner Durgesh Mishra received directions during the visit. The minister’s evening itinerary also included Kushmanda Devi and Sankat Mochan temples. MLA Saurabh Srivastava was present.

The inspection was a call for action, not the announcement of a completed engineering project. The available account did not specify a newly sanctioned budget, contractor, design or date by which a permanent solution would be delivered.

Two tasks, on different timescales

The instructions separate an immediate operational task from a longer-term one. Moving water off a road helps restore access at that moment. Establishing why the same point fills again is necessary before officials can say the underlying problem has been addressed.

A useful follow-up to the inspection would therefore distinguish equipment deployed from work completed. How many pumps reached a site is one question; how long access remained affected is another. Neither figure, by itself, establishes that the next spell of rain will produce a different result.

Similarly, a direction to clean chambers should not be reported as confirmation that every chamber has already been cleared. A work record, location and completion time would make that progress easier to assess. Those details were not included in the inspection account.

What residents can look for next

For people using Andhrapul or travelling through Durgakund, the practical issue is whether a route remains usable during a downpour. A site-specific update is more useful for that decision than a general assurance that pumps are available somewhere in the city.

Residents reporting recurring accumulation can make a complaint more precise by identifying the location and when water appeared, and by distinguishing a blocked access point from water that is already receding. Photographs taken from a safe position can document the situation without requiring anyone to approach a chamber or enter standing water.

The next substantive development would be a confirmed work plan or a measurable change on the ground. Saturday’s visit sets out the minister’s expectation that response teams move during rainfall and that recurring trouble spots receive lasting attention. It does not yet establish that the drainage problem at either inspected location has been resolved.