Region’s heaviest rainfall leaves Tricity afloat

The Tricity today woke up to the region’s heaviest and highest-ever rainfall in the recent past, which threw normal life out of gear. People heading to their work places in the morning were the worst-hit. A majority of them could not make it to their destinations.

The downpour, which started on Tuesday night, continued till the morning, leaving the tricity almost deluged. Intermittent rain continued till late evening.

The Sukhna floodgates were opened for the ninth record time this monsoon after the water level breached the danger mark of 1,163-foot, leading to the flooding of Sukhna Choe, a seasonal stream taking excess lake water to the Ghaggar river.

While the Ghaggar river was in spate, the seasonal rivulets Patiala Ki Rao, Jayanti Ki Rao and several nullahs in the tricity were overflowing. Areas nearby these water bodies, including Kishangarh, Bapu Dham Colony, Industrial Areas, Bhankharpur, Zirakpur, Dera Bassi, Morni, Barwala, Pinjore, Raipur Rani and other catchment areas witnessed flooding. Several roads, bridges and causeways were badly damaged.

Periphery areas in Mohali and Panchkula were the worst-hit. The stretches of 200-foot-wide road leading to the international airport and several other major roads and busy junctions in the tricity were severely waterlogged, taking a toll on the vehicular traffic.

A large number of vehicles got stuck on the flooded roads. After several hours of ordeal, the situation started limping back to normal. Some roads, bridges and causeways were still under knee-deep water and closed to vehicular traffic when the reports last came in.

Elsewhere in the Tricity, there were reports of rainwater entering houses, shops, godowns and even government offices, causing heavy loss of property. Standing crops, kutcha houses and sheds in villages were also damaged in the monsoon mayhem. No loss of life was reported from any part of the tricity region till the reports last came in.

In Chandigarh, the situation was a bit better than Mohali and Panchkula, but almost all roads and roundabouts were submerged in rainwater.

The record 133-mm rainfall in Panchkula followed by 91.4-mm in Chandigarh and 73.5-mm in Mohali, which the weathermen recorded during the past 24 hours, once again proved beyond doubt that there was a total collapse of the drainage system.

Even as a few traffic cops were seen regulating the traffic in the city, all the major junctions — Tribune Chowk, Labour Chowk, ISBT-43, ISBT-17, JW Marriott, Press Chowk, Transport Chowk —Madhya Marg and southern pockets witnessed heavy traffic jams. While traffic signals were non-functional, hardly any traffic policemen were seen clearing the logjam.

At several places, trees and poles got uprooted, damaging vehicles. Fallen trees snapped power supply besides telephone/Internet services.

Several parts of Mohali and Panchkula witnessed a flood-like situation. Officials termed it as an “unexpected and unavoidable” situation, which, they claimed, was handled “timely and efficiently”. However, the residents were not convinced with their tall claims and sought their accountability.

EDU INSTITUTIONS SHUT IN UT, MOHALI TILL SEPT 7

Panjab University, its affiliated colleges, all schools and institutes of higher and technical education in Chandigarh and Mohali shall remain closed till September 7.

PANCHKULA SCHOOLS CLOSED TODAY

The Panchkula administration has ordered the closure of all schools, colleges and higher/technical education institutions till September 4.