The Embankment of Narayan Pond (which is nearly 70 years old) built in ward number 22 Utaili of Satna City of Madhya Pradesh collapsed in the first week of September 2024. Consequent to this breach many houses of the colony (Approx 50) were flooded with water. Due to the collapse of the embankment water entered the adjacent colony. The flow of water was so much that even small goods and four-wheelers were swept away. The administration reached the spot and did relief and rescue work. Many Residents were evacuated safely by the rescue operation. However, many people lost their roofs in the incident.
POST-INCIDENT EUPHORIA
After the boundary of Narayan pond broke, Minister of State for Urban Housing and Development Pratima Bagri was seen in alert mode and held a review meeting in the Municipal Corporation. After the meeting, the minister blamed the contract company responsible for the breaking of the pond. Along with this, the minister ordered to blacklist the contract company KN Narang.
The contract company was given the work order for the beautification of Narayan pond on 8 September 2021. Despite this, even after getting an extension thrice, the company did not complete even 50% of the work. The Municipal Corporation did not take any strict action on the company’s negligence, due to which the risk was constantly present.
CARRY HOME POINTS
The incident is a grim reminder of the state of our urban infrastructure in our tier 2 & 3 cities. Rampant unplanned construction activity which has been going on for several decades has brought us to a situation where small-scale disasters can happen anytime. The current incident in Satna is just an example. Civic organizations must learn their lessons before such incidents result in loss of life. They should survey all the colonies in the city and identify weak structures whether private or public property and demolish them if required. Civil society organizations and experts in the field of disaster management and resilience building should come forward and assist the Municipal Corporations in this drive.
Edited by Dr. Brijendra Mishra and Col Prashant Mishra (Retd)