Parliament Question: Urban drainage failures and recurrent waterlogging in Patna

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS RAJYA SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 97 ANSWERED ON 09/02/2026 URBAN DRAINAGE FAILURES AND RECURRENT WATERLOGGING IN PATNA *97. SHRI AKHILESH PRASAD SINGH: Will the Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs be pleased to state: (a) whether Government is aware that several residential and commercial areas of Patna faces severe waterlogging every year during the monsoon due to inadequate drainage infrastructure; (b) the details of projects sanctioned for Patna under AMRUT, Smart Cities Mission or other Central schemes for improvement of drainage and sewerage systems; (c) whether delays, design deficiencies or implementation gaps have been identified in execution of these projects; and (d) the steps taken to ensure time-bound completion of urban drainage works and adoption of sustainable storm-water management solutions to prevent recurring hardship faced by the residents? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS (SHRI MANOHAR LAL) (a) to (d): A statement is laid on the table of the House.STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) TO (d) OF THE RAJYA SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 97 DUE FOR ANSWER IN THE RAJYA SABHA ON FEBRUARY 09, 2026 REGARDING “URBAN DRAINAGE FAILURES AND RECURRENT WATERLOGGING IN PATNA” (a) to (d): Management of urban flooding falls under the purview of the State Governments and the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs)/ Urban Development Authorities including ULBs in Patna, who are responsible for maintaining the drainage and sewerage system. Government of India supplements the efforts of the States through schematic interventions/ advisories. It provides financial and technical support to the States to strengthen Urban Planning ecosystem. Usually, increased incidence of high intensity rainfall in short duration is mainly responsible for urban floods, which is further compounded by unplanned growth, encroachment of natural water bodies, inadequate sewer systems, inadequate rainwater drainage systems, encroachments, etc. As informed by the State Government, except for temporary water logging caused by intense and prolonged spells of monsoon rains specially in unplanned and low lying localities, the problem of urban flooding has been resolved. Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) launched in the year 2015, inter alia, has a component on storm water drainage, which involved construction and improvement of drains/ storm water drains in order to reduce and eliminate flooding and creating green spaces and parks. Under the Mission, State is empowered to select, appraise, prioritise and implement the projects as per local requirements. Under AMRUT, 01 Storm Water Drainage project ‘Beur More to Mithapur Bus Stand Nala‘ worth Rs.48.95 crore was taken up in Patna City which resulted in laying of 7.12 Km length of drain. Further, 01green spaces and park project worth ₹4.72 crore was taken up in Patna City covering development of 4.99 acres of permeable green space area. Under AMRUT 2.0, projects for green spaces and parks and rejuvenation of water bodies and wells are admissible components. Under AMRUT 2.0, proposals of the State for 3 park projects in Patna worth Rs.29.98 crore has been approved. The State has not taken up any water body rejuvenation project in Patna. The State has informed that under Storm Water Drainage, one project ‘Bakarganj Nala‘ worth Rs.26.98 crore for laying of 1.46 km length of drain has been taken up under Smart Cities Mission (SCM), The project is 50.1% physically completed. Under SCM and in convergence, Patna Smart City had taken up one project ‘Sewerage network in ABD area’ at a cost of Rs.52 crore and the other project ‘development of Mandiri Nala’ at a cost of Rs.96 crore. As reported on the Smart City portal, both the projects are physically completed.The State Government has also informed that 12 projects for Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) and sewer network have been taken up in Patna under Namami Gange scheme, out of which 8 projects have been completed. In 02 projects, more than 99% works have been completed and in other 02 projects, the physical progress is around 55%. The details of the projects are given in Annexure. The State has informed that delay in some of the projects is mainly due to execution challenges in heavily built up and densely populated areas. The State is taking necessary actions at site such as rigorous monitoring, increasing mobilisation of resources, etc. AMRUT guidelines provides for formation of State High Powered Steering Committee (SHPSC) headed by the Chief Secretary of the State, to monitor and supervise the implementation of the scheme at the State/ UT level. State Level Technical Committee (SLTC) headed by the Secretary, Urban Development & Housing Department of the State/ UT provides technical support to the SHPSC in monitoring and supervising the scheme at the State level. Further, an Apex Committee constituted under the ambit of Mission guidelines reviews and monitors the Mission periodically. For assessment and monitoring of work done under AMRUT in the States/ UTs, there is a provision of Independent Review and Monitoring Agencies (IRMAs). Also, in order to fast-track the implementation of AMRUT, the progress is periodically reviewed and monitored through regular video conferences/ webinars/ workshops/ site-visits etc. by MoHUA with the States/ UTs and ULBs. There is a dedicated AMRUT online portal for tracking the progress and monitoring of projects. Further, the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has published the following documents/advisory guidelines for improving urban drainage and flood management: i. Urban and Regional Development Plans Formulation and Implementation (URDPFI) Guidelines, 2014 (https://mohua.gov.in/upload/uploadfiles/files/URDPFI%20Guidelines%20Vol%20I(2).pdf ) ii. Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for Urban Flooding (https://mohua.gov.in/upload/uploadfiles/files/SOP%20Urban%20flooding_5%20May%202017.pdf) iii. River Centric Urban Planning Guidelines in 2021 to enable cities in the development of conjunctive water management approaches including nature-based solution (https://mohua.gov.in/upload/uploadfiles/files/RCUP%20Guidelines.pdf) iv. Guidance Document on Creation of Rain Water Harvesting Parks (https://mohua.gov.in/pdf/6566e1048ab41guidance-document-on-rainwater-harvesting-parks- final.pdf) v. Manual on Storm Water Drainage System (https://mohua.gov.in/publication/manual-on-storm- water-drainage-systems--2019.php) *****ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) TO (d) OF RAJYA SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 97 REGARDING “URBAN DRAINAGE FAILURES AND RECURRENT WATERLOGGING IN PATNA”, DUE FOR ANSWER ON 09.02.2026 DETAILS OF SEWERAGE AND STP PROJECTS UNDER NAMAMI GANGE SCHEME IN PATNA, BIHAR: S. Location Project STP Sewer Contrac Date of Current No. Name Capacity Network t Price Contract Status (In MLD) (In Km.) (₹crore) 1. Beur Sewerage 43 -- 77.85 31/03/2017 Completed on Treatment July 2020 Plant 2. Beur Sewerage -- 179.74 398.40 30/03/2017 Completed on Network June 2022 3. Saidpur STP & 60 55.10 188.186 30/03/2017 Completed on Adjoining Feb. 2021 Network 4. Saidpur Sewerage -- 172.50 431.21 30/01/2018 Completed on Network June 2022 5. Karmalichak Sewerage 37 -- 73.61 31/03/2017 Completed on Treatment Oct. 2019 Plant 6. Karmalichak Sewerage -- 96.54 253.98 11/05/2018 Physical Network Progress 99.97% 7. Pahari-Zone Sewerage -- 87.69 167.84 11/05/2018 Completed on IV A (S) Zone IVA July 2021 (South) of Pahari, Patna 8. Pahari STP Sewerage 60 -- 147.65 09/05/2018 Completed on Treatment May 2022 Plant 9. Phulwarisaritt I&D and 13 -- 176.19 23/11/2020 Completed. STP Trial Run from 01/01/2025 10. Pahari Zone- Sewerage -- 115.93 364.90 25/04/2018 Physical V scheme at Progress Pahari Zone- 99.93% V Patna 11. Digha-Zone STP & 100 288 30/12/2019 Physical Sewer Progress Network 1187.86 56.83% 12. Kankarbagh- STP & 50 150 30/12/2019 Physical Zone Sewer Progress Network 54.46%