Downpour throws life out of gear

Ajay Joshi
Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, January 22

The downpour that lashed the city today washed away tall claims of the Jalandhar Municipal Corporation (MC) authorities about its preparedness to control such a situation. Owing to heavy rains in the city for the two consecutive days, it is almost a flood-like situation. Also, the fact that almost every village in the district lacks basic sewerage connection was proven right.

Residents and shopkeepers had to face difficulty due to waterlogging in various areas. The major reason behind the rainwater flooding the city was improper cleaning of the sewerage, said a councillor.

An MC official, Peter, said around 130 complaints regarding damaged or dysfunctional street lights and 25 complaints related to sewerage and waterlogging were reported only within 24 hours of the rain.

The real picture of roads has been exposed. Potholes and pits already existed on a number of roads and now, these have also emerged on several roads after the downpour.

It clearly indicates that poor quality material was used to fill them up. Sand mixed with gravels has also swept away, making it difficult for commuters to drive on such roads

Rainwater has been accumulated on most of the roads and streets in residential areas. The worst hit areas include Grain Market, Old Sabzi Mandi Road, Transport Nagar, Preet nagar and Industrial Area.

“The MC have placed huge banners of Swachhata Sarvekshan in the city, however, they could not managed to improve roads. Besides, garbage has spread all over the roads, which again puts a huge blot on the tall claims of the MC authorities,” said Nitin Arora, a resident.

Sahil, a resident of Mahiran Gate said: “The administration is well aware of the problem. Hence, it should take immediate and necessary steps. But till date it seems officials are oblivious of the entire issue.” Though people complained about the waterlogging issue at several places, Satinder Kumar, O&M branch engineer, said only one or two areas has stagnant water.

Hence, no arrangements were made to drain out the stagnant water from various areas.

Transport, postal services hit

Local small and medium scale businesses remained affected throughout the day. Shopkeepers also struggled to get customers. Work at factories in the Industrial Area were also hit due to waterlogging and . In addition, farmers, arthiyas and vendors at Sabzi Mandi also faced a a tough time as they had to sell vegetables at cheaper rates. Vendors had faced a loss of 30-40 per cent, said, Kulwinder Singh, a vegetable wholesaler. People visiting the local bus stand also faced inconvenience due to accumulated rainwater after downpour lashed the city last night. Passengers blamed improper drainage system for the menace.

Most areas flooded in Phagwara

Phagwara: Most of the areas of the town were flooded with knee-deep water due to the heavy rain.

Rain water entered the low-lying Gaushala Road, Hargobind Nagar, Kherra Road, Palahai Road, Shiv Puri, Onkar Nagar, Gobindpura Mohalla, and Baba Gadhia localities.

Inder Duggal, president, former BCC, said the market had been located in the low-lying areas and MC officials had failed to initiate any action.

Open grounds have turned into ponds. Many roads remained waterlogged on the second day today. — OC