Amritsar gets waterlogged after showers

Charanjit Singh Teja

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, August 9

The city witnessed heavy rainfall early in the morning, exposing the tall claims of Municipal Corporation on desilting the sewer lines. Heavy waterlogging on main roads of the city threw life out of gear with even the Heritage Street leading to Golden Temple witnessing waterlogging for a few hours. Major thoroughfares including Taylor Road, MM Malviya Road, Batala Road and Ranjit Avenue road were inundated in the absence of storm water sewerage. Even the BRTS lane, where the Public Works Department had installed the storm sewer, witnessed waterlogging.

The rain started around 4.30 am in the morning and continued till 7 am. The low-lying areas of the city witnessed heavy waterlogging as sanitary sewer lines did not drain out the rainwater immediately. With the continuous lifting of rainwater by motor pumps at sewer disposal stations located in various areas of the city, the rainwater could be drained out only by 9 am.

Just before the monsoon season, senior MC officials had claimed that they were prepared and equipped to tackle the problem of waterlogging in the city. They had claimed that the work of desilting drains was done. People residing in low-lying areas are now flaying the authorities for poor arrangements to deal with the problem of waterlogging.

Gurvinder Singh, a local resident, said, “There are some roads where rainwater has accumulated after every spell of showers for years. The Taylor road and MM Malviya Road get flooded even after a moderate spell of rain. The MC should identify such areas and provide a solution.”

“As the motor pumps at disposal stations are functional, the rainwater drains out within one or two hours. But there are some stretches, where rainwater accumulates for quite a few days after every spell of rain. Waterlogging can be seen on the elevated road near Bhandari Bridge and outside the Alpha Mall due to structural errors. The authorities concerned should rectify the road manufacturing errors,” said Manmohan Singh, a resident of Partap Nagar on GT Road.