LUCKNOW, May 4 -- The Lucknow Municipal Corporation's (LMC) pre-monsoon drain cleaning drive has created new hazards, with extracted silt piling up on roads for over a week, narrowing traffic lanes, strangling businesses, on Lucknow's main thoroughfares.

The civic body launched the annual desilting exercise to prevent monsoon waterlogging, but weak coordination between cleaning and disposal teams has stalled progress. In Vibhuti Khand, silt accumulated along the main road for six days reduced a two-lane stretch to single-lane passage, triggering congestion during peak hours.

A ground visit by HT on Saturday revealed unattended drains across areas. In Aashiyana, the cleaning drive has not commenced. In Vibhuti Khand, a drain opposite the...