Rain throws life out of gear in city

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 10

City residents faced inconvenience due to heavy rain this evening, which triggered waterlogging, traffic jams and power cuts.

The rain once again exposed the ineffectiveness of the campaign launched to clean road gullies, which is yet to be completed by the Municipal Corporation. The MC had allotted work of around Rs 1 crore for cleaning road gullies.

Waterlogging was reported from various parts of the city. In Bapu Dham Colony, Sector 26, residents faced inconvenience due to waterlogged roads.

In many areas, the MC staff was busy cleaning road gullies to solve the waterlogging problem.

The worst-affected were residents of Sectors 19, 21, 22, 25, 29, 30, 33, 40, 41, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49 and 51, Dhanas, Maloya, Bapu Dham and Mani Majra. People said the sanitation wing of the MC claimed to launch regular sanitation drives in the city, but the truth was different. There was no regular check on the working of sweepers.

Power cuts

Besides waterlogging, residents also faced power cuts in southern parts of the city due to the rain. On the road dividing Sector 44 and 51, four electricity poles got uprooted, resulted in power cuts in the nearby sectors. Besides, power cuts were reported from southern sectors in the evening hours due to some snag.

Traffic chaos

Traffic chaos was witnessed on roads after the rain. As many roundabouts and roads were waterlogged, motorists were stuck in traffic jams. Besides, a majority of the traffic lights at intersections were not functional, which also resulted in huge traffic jams. The worst-affected were the Tribune roundabout, Sector 17 ISBT roundabout and the Sector 33-34 roundabout. The roads dividing Sectors 32 and 33 and Sectors 31 and 32 remained clogged for more than half an hour in the evening.

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