Faulty Hume Pipe Causes Flooding of Farmlands, Engineer Assesses Situation

Bhubaneswar, July 01, 2025 – A critical issue has emerged in Narajpur village under Badamahisagotha Panchayat in Bant Block, Bhadrak district, where a Hume pipe used for water drainage has become clogged. The malfunction has severely disrupted farming activities in the region due to inadequate water discharge. Persistent light rainfall over the past few days has worsened the situation, with waterlogging submerging farmlands and halting agricultural work.

The clogged Hume pipe, connected to the drainage canal from the Anjoro Minor Canal, serves Narajpur, Haripur, Ghantagadia, and Badamahisagotha areas. This canal, linked to a Hume pipe near the Badamahisagotha Panchayat office, was installed improperly during the construction of the Kuashmadiya-Kaupur bypass road a few years ago, despite objections from local farmers. Positioned two feet above the ground level, the pipe has failed to drain water effectively for the past four years.

As a result, approximately 30 acres of farmland belonging to farmers such as Chakradhar Panigrahi, Amulya Ratna Nanda, Shishir Deo, Raghunath Nayak, Rakhal Nath, Bikash Panigrahi, Harihar Panigrahi, Sitaram Panigrahi, Shiva Prasad Mishra, Mahendra Mishra, and Shankarsan Nayak, among others, are inundated. The affected farmers, already burdened by water tax payments, are now facing significant losses.

Today, Assistant Engineer Nabaghan Marandi conducted a field inspection, listening to the farmers' grievances. He acknowledged that the Hume pipe is partially clogged and assured that the old pipe will be replaced with a new one-meter pipe to resolve the drainage issue and alleviate the farmers' plight.

(Reported by Chandini Mohanty)