Cong spray water in NHAI office protesting waterlogging

Activists of the opposition Congress today sprayed water inside the National Highway Authority of India's (NHAI) office in a unique way to protest against waterlogging in certain areas of NH-16 here, police said.

The protesters barged into the office located at Unit-VIII area in Bhubaneswar and sprayed water inside using a pipe fitted to a tanker, NHAI officials alleged.

Water fell on furniture, accessories, files, documents and the employees at the NHAI office, they said.

The Congress activists were protesting against waterlogging caused by heavy rain in the national highway near the ISKCON temple on Saturday.

The commuters had a tough time and cars got partly submerged due to the waterlogging, the Congress activists said.

Local people blamed the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) for the waterlogging, Mayor A N Jena held the NHAI responsible for the problem.

Jena said, the NHAI did nothing to solve the problem, though the BMC has written several times to the NHAI requesting it to resolve the issue.

However, NHAI officials claimed that their role is limited and confined to the roads only.

"The BMC should construct drains to facilitate drainage of the rain water. But, the BMC has not done it," a senior NHAI official said.