Despite rain alert, city knee deep in water

Harshraj Singh
Tribune News Service
Ludhiana, August 17

Rain lashed the city on Saturday leaving most of the city areas inundated. There are reports that water entered several homes and shops as well.

Despite the alert of heavy rainfall, no concrete measures were taken by the MC to avoid water-logging in the city areas. Following the report of the India Meteorological Department, an alert was issued on August 16 that one or two spells of very heavy rainfall exceeding 12 cm are likely over various districts, including Ludhiana, in the next 48-72 hours.

It started raining around 3:15 pm in various parts of the city and continued till 8 pm. Water-logging was witnessed on Ferozepur Road, National Highway 1, Feroze Gandhi Market, Bhai Bala Chowk, Bharat Nagar, Clock Tower, Dholewal Chowk, Gill Road, Hambran Road and many more areas.

The accumulated rainwater near the passport office and other parts of the link road caused trouble for commuters. Besides, water-logging at the bus stand inconvenienced visitors.

Rakesh Lekhi of New Kundan Puri said: “The civic body officials have failed to provide any relief to residents, as water once again entered the houses and shops in the area. As it started raining, sewers stared flowing back, causing major water-logging in streets. Nothing was done to get the road gullies cleaned.”

Water accumulated in the streets of Bhai Randhir Singh Nagar, C block, which is a posh area. RTI activist Baljeet Singh said water-logging was witnessed in the streets near the temple in C block of BRS Nagar. He said the civic body had recently set up a rain harvesting system by spending lakhs of rupees in the area, but to no avail. The civic body has failed to find a solution to this chronic water-logging in the area, he said.

Congress leader Parminder Mehta claimed that the water entered a number of shops and houses in low-lying areas due to the negligence of the MC. It seems they did not learn any lesson from the past, he said.

Water accumulates in streets

• Dirty water accumulated in the streets of Giaspura, Dhandari Khurd and adjoining areas emanating foul smell. Residents here have been complaining for the past several months, but the civic body kept ignoring their complaints. Sukhwinder Singh of Dhandari Khurd said: “Sewage accumulates in many streets, but when it rains, the dirty water enters many houses.” 
• Besides, sewage in many other areas, including at Pakhowal Road, overflows during heavy rainfall. Residents complained that the sewer flows back in the toilets, due to which they were unable to use their toilets. 

Traffic comes to a halt

Major traffic snarls were witnessed on Ferozepur Road, Lakkar Bridge, Old GT Road, Chandigarh Road and many other roads due to water-logging. Commuters were struck in long traffic jams. As per information, traffic cops were deployed to control the situation at different locations. It kept raining till 9 pm.

Vehicles develop snag 

Many vehicles, including two-wheelers and cars, turned off in knee-deep water at various locations. Commuters were seen struggling to get their vehicles out of water near Haibowal, Old GT Road and other locations.