Mohali houses flooded

Tribune News Service

Mohali, July 8

Downpour on Tuesday night caused widespread flooding of roads, streets and houses in the low-lying areas of the town.

The worst-affected were houses in Phase IV and V as these were submerged under four-foot rainwater late in the night. Road cave-ins, collapsed walls, clogged drains and scattered waste were witnessed in almost every part of the town.

The Phase V market and the parking area were waterlogged and had clogged drains. Residents had a harrowing time when rainwater entered their houses in Phase IV and V late at night.

“The monsoon has just begun and it has laid bare the preparations of the Mohali Municipal Corporation and the district administration. It happens every year but the officials seem least bothered,” said Mukesh Sachdeva, a retired banker and a resident of Phase V.

“The tiled footpath outside my house caved in when I was leaving for my office on Wednesday morning. My children were with me in the car as I had to drop them at my relatives’ house. Before I could move the car, the tiles caved in and the vehicle was stuck. I had to call a crane to pull it out. My children were shocked after the incident. No MC official has visited the place which is dotted with cave-ins at several places,” said Karanpreet Kaur, a resident of Phase III-A.

Several fire tenders and super suction pumps were pressed into service late at night to drain out rainwater from houses.

MC officials said rainwater flooded houses at Phase 3B-2 and IV.

In Phase V, a stray cow was stuck in a pit for the entire night and was rescued by local residents in the morning.

“Some houses in Phase IV and V, a low-lying area, had four feet of rainwater. For a few hours the situation was tense until it was brought under control,” said Baljeet Kaur, a former area councillor.

MC Commissioner Kamal Kumar Garg and a team of officials surveyed the affected areas in the morning and deliberated on the steps to be taken.