Rain spells traffic chaos in Chandigarh

Massive waterlogging led to traffic chaos that brought the city to a halt during the peak morning hours on Tuesday. This was all caused by 10-mm downpour, which, as per the weatherman’s intensity description, comes under the “light rainfall” category.

The city residents woke up to the early morning showers that brought cheer for giving relief from the hot and humid weather, but also led to traffic chaos, precipitated by the Municipal Corporation’s ill-preparedness.

A majority of roads and streets, especially in the low-lying areas, were waterlogged, causing a major disruption in the normal traffic flow. The Tribune Chowk, one of the busiest junctions, GMCH-32 roundabout, PGIMER junction, Madhya Marg grid, Transport Chowk, Hallomajra-Chandigarh barrier stretch and several other crossroads in the city witnessed a chock-a-block with vehicles moving bumper-to-bumper at a snail’s pace.

“I have to drop my son to school in Sector 26, which usually takes me 20 minutes, but today even after half an hour, I’m still not through the halfway mark,” shared a Mohali resident, Shweta Gujral, while resenting “very little” or “no” presence of traffic cops at most of the clogged junctions. Surinder Kumar, who has to drive his aged mother to the PGI from Sector 44, was caught in the traffic snarls and missed the doctor’s scheduled appointment.

A large number of office and school goers were seen struggling to find their way through the traffic bottlenecks. However, Mohali and Panchkula experienced very light rainfall, which measured 0.5-mm during the past 24 hours.

Rainwater entered several houses at Bapu Dham Colony.

The residents of Dadumajra, Khuda Ali Sher, Palsora and Behlana villages faced a lot of problems due to waterlogging.

Ram Milan Sharma, a resident of Sector 45, said the rain had exposed the ill-preparedness of the Municipal Corporation.

Manjeet Singh, a resident, said visiting the Sector 26 mandi in the rainy season was no less than a nightmare.

A tree was uprooted in Sector 18 in Chandigarh during the rain. Sunil Parti, a resident, said the MC was doing nothing to identify the old and weakened trees.

Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a yellow alert for heavy rain coupled with thunderstorms at isolated places in Chandigarh and Haryana on Wednesday.

Today, the mercury dipped considerably to settle at 30.9 and 24.9 in Chandigarh, 30.6 and 25.7 in Mohali, and 29 and 24.5 degree Celsius in Panchkula.