Sewage is flooding the 5.5km Dhanbad-Barwaddah road that recently had been widened to four lanes at a cost of Rs 34.43 crore.

Over 10,000 daily commuters between Dhanbad and Barwaddah, which connects the coal capital to NH-2, have no choice but to wade through filthy water. Residents of nearby areas such as Ranibandh, with a population of 1,000 households are fearing an epidemic outbreak.

Of the 5.5km road, a drain was needed on the side for less than 1km, on areas with human habitation, but only around 300 metres got built. Result: in residential areas, where sewage is generated in huge quantities every day, there is no channel for it to flow out except on the new road.

Expressing his disgust, former president of Bartand Chamber of Commerce Madhurendra Singh said the road construction department that widened the road with help of contractor Daroga Pradhan and Company was responsible for the mess. “When they widened the road, they should have constructed the drain on the side. The position of the old drain got changed when the road was widened, obviously, but it seems a wider road was the priority and not the drain,” he said, adding Dhanbad Municipal Corporation could have intervened as sanitation was a civic issue but it did not.

“We met municipal commissioner Chandramohan Kashyap and road construction authorities several times earlier. They all gave assurances but the problem remains.”

Contacted, Dhanbad mayor Chandrashekhar Agarwal told this paper that the problem would be solved very soon. “Construction of drain has been initiated,” he said.

Executive engineer of road costruction department Amrendra Kumar Saha said he assumed office only three days ago. “I don’t know about the specific problem but we will address any issue affecting the masses as a priority,” he said.