Heavy rain spell to continue till July 24; IMD issues yellow alert

The ongoing wet spell with heavy rainfall with thunderstorms and lightning is likely to continue in Chandigarh, Punjab and Haryana till Thursday.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Monday issued a yellow alert for heavy rain coupled with thunderstorms and lightning in the region, including Chandigarh for the next three days till July 24.

Chandigarh received 40-mm downpour during the last 24 hours, which was second highest in the region after 96mm rainfall recorded in Hoshiarpur. This led to waterlogging at various low-lying areas, including several roads and busy junctions, throwing the normal life and traffic out of gear.

In the absence of any traffic cops, most of the major roads and junctions witnessed traffic chaos and massive jams during the day, especially morning and afternoon hours.

The Tribune Chowk, which is the busiest junctions, was the worst-hit with the clogged roads from all sides leading to traffic jams stretching upto 2-3 km.

“Whenever and wherever there is any traffic chaos or disruption, you will not find any cops. Otherwise they are seen everywhere, trying to catch violators,” quipped Suresh Kumar, who remained stuck in the traffic jam at GMCH-32 roundabout for over half-an-hour in the morning.

Another harried commuter Aakriti Sood complained that despite repeated calls to the police helpline and even posting alerts on the traffic police’s social media handles, no cop was seen regulating traffic at the clogged roads and junctions.

“I had an appointment with a GMCH-32 doctor at 9.30 am but due to the massive jam, I remained stuck till 10 am on the way,” rued Kartik Sharma.

Similarly, the office-goers and others faced great hardships and inconvenience due to the traffic chaos on the city roads and junctions.

Meanwhile, maximum temperature in Chandigarh was recorded at 27.7°C with a fall of 6.5 degrees in the last 24 hours and departure of 6.1 degrees from normal while minimum temperature measured 26.8°C with a fall of 1.5 degrees in the last 24 hours and departure of 0.1 degree from normal.

Mohali and Panchkula also experienced 20mm and 22mm rainfall during the last 24 hours, leading to dip in day and night temperatures. However, the relative humidity was recorded at 94 per cent during the day.