• Aim: To prevent encroachment, unauthorised filling, blockage and diversion of natural drainage pathways, while ensuring that urban development does not reduce the free flow of rainwater or the capacity of areas that store excess water.
• Guiding principle: “No Net Loss of Natural Drainage and Flood-Storage Capacity.”

Key provisions:

• Critical drainage networks and water bodies in all ULBs will be identified, surveyed, geo-referenced and mapped using GIS.
• The mapped assets will be built into urban development plans, land-use plans and Comprehensive Storm Water Drainage Master Plans, which also strengthens development-permission processes.
• District-Level Committees and enforcement task forces, under the District Collectors, will coordinate identification, protection, restoration and monitoring.

• Directions: Padhee asked authorities to map drainage channels, ponds, wetlands and flood-retention areas, especially in waterlogging-prone locations, and stressed coordination among departments and ULBs.
• Status: The SOP is at the draft stage, and the state will decide on its approval and the mechanism for formal issuance.

• Urban flooding: Caused by heavy rainfall combined with encroached drains, loss of wetlands and water bodies, and impervious surfaces that reduce infiltration. Cities such as Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Puri face recurring waterlogging.
• Urban local bodies: Storm water drainage is an urban function under the Twelfth Schedule (74th Amendment), and Article 243W gives municipalities powers and responsibilities for such functions.
• Wetlands: The Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017 regulate wetland protection, and Chilika, a Ramsar site, is Odisha’s best-known wetland.
• Disaster management: The Disaster Management Act, 2005 and the NDMA’s guidelines on urban flooding emphasise drainage planning and mapping of flood-prone areas.
• Schemes: AMRUT 2.0 supports urban water and drainage infrastructure.
• Earlier decision: The state Cabinet recently approved a ₹500 crore Urban Storm Water Drainage Management and Improvement Programme (2026-27 to 2030-31).

Urban flooding and drainage planning, the Twelfth Schedule and Article 243W, the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017, the Disaster Management Act, 2005 and AMRUT 2.0 are recurring themes for OPSC Prelims (Odisha Geography, Polity, Current Events) and OPSC Mains GS Paper III (Disaster Management) and GS Paper II (Urban Governance).

For structured notes on Odisha-specific current affairs, aspirants preparing in Bhubaneswar can join the OPSC Foundation Batch at Strive Edge IAS — recognized as one of the best OPSC OAS coaching institutes in Bhubaneswar.