Rain floods underpass in Dera Bassi

Satinder Pal Singh

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Dera Bassi, July 3

The railway underpass at Janetpur village in Dera Bassi, providing access to local residents to the National Highway and connecting other villages, becomes a problematic spot when it rains.

Every time it pours, most of the underpasses in the two towns are inundated to the extent that commuters have to travel several extra miles to find a feasible route.

As the monsoon showers lashed the city on Tuesday, the ill-preparedness on part of the authorities was visible with drains finding no outlet due to blockage as it left the railway underpass at Janetpur village filled with knee-deep water, causing inconvenience to commuters as well as local residents who use it to go to the National Highway and the other parts of the city.

The underpass, which was constructed by the Railway authorities two years ago, provided a huge relief not only to residents of Janetpur village but also those living in adjoining villages. Earlier, the villagers were forced go through the closed crossings as they had to cover a distance of over 3 km to reach others parts of the city.

Residents rued that apparently due to faulty drainage system and lack of capacity to absorb water, even a slight downpour becomes a cause of perpetual headache for residents and commuters here. It makes commuting a herculean task for all, especially for pedestrians and two-wheeler riders.

If residents living in the area are to be believed rainwater remains stagnant for days. Residents of Janetpur village feel that the underpass needs immediate attention of the authorities concerned as the movement of vehicular traffic gets affected here due to rainwater stagnation.

Harpreet Singh, a local resident, rued that with time the railway underpass proved to be a biggest hindrance rather than coming as a relief. It gets inundated during rain leading to accidents. Another resident, on condition of anonymity, said: “Whenever it rains, the underpass turns into a virtual pool. The same problem came to the fore last year. Situation seems to be no different this year also. Our repeated pleas have fallen on deaf ears”.

Residents rued that the authorities concerned seem to be oblivious of the fact that if railway underpasses are to be made, drains too need to be kept clean of dirt and mess.

Learning no lessons from the past wherein a 28-year-old youth, Jatinder Singh, of Barauli village was allegedly drowned in the water that had accumulated under railway bypass at Janetpur village after he tried to pass through it on a tractor-trailer. While the residents have been crying foul for years together, the authorities concerned have been as callous as ever to the demands that need immediate attention.

SS Sidhu, Executive Officer, MC, Dera Bassi, said the Janeptur underpass does not come under the MC property as the Railway authorities are yet to hand it over to them. As of now, MC staff drains out water whenever the underpass is waterlogged during rain. Water recharge system was to be constructed by the Railways, which is still not done.

Sidhu stated that the civic body would write to the Railways authorities seeking a permanent solution to this perennial problem of waterlogging.

Zirakpur civic body’s preparedness exposed

While the city received its first spell of monsoon on Monday, loopholes in the preparations of the Zirakpur Municipal Council to tackle the problem of waterlogging in the city came to the fore. In Zirakpur, it is a common sight for residents of several colonies as water accumulates on streets after a brief spell of rainfall.

Traffic moves at a snail’s pace

Traffic snarls were also reported from Ambala-Zirakpur stretch. Two-km stretch of the road from the Zirakpur traffic lights towards Patiala was worst affected. Long queues of vehicles were seen on this stretch.