MC blames heavy rain for waterlogging in Ambala

Nitish Sharma

Tribune News Service

Ambala, August 16

Even after spending a huge budget on the works to prevent waterlogging and cleaning of drains, the Ambala City witnessed severe waterlogging due to rain earlier this week, and several areas remained waterlogged for almost two days.

Rs 41.9l tender was alloted for drain clean-up

The corporation had allotted a tender of ~41.9 lakh for cleaning three major drains. The employees of the corporation were engaged for cleaning 89 minor drains, but the rain left the city inundated for two days. ~

— Mithun Verma, Councillor, Ambala MC

While residents and opposition leaders were blaming the government and the municipal corporation for lack of preparedness and inadequate cleaning of drains, the corporation and the minister of state and local MLA sighted unexpected heavy rain and geographical conditions of the city for the reason behind the situation.

Jitender Kumar, a resident of Inder Nagar, said, “The Ambala City witnesses the same issue every year but the government and the corporation has failed to resolve this permanent issue. The drains remain blocked due to poor cleaning and the streets get waterlogged even after a little rain.”

Congress leader and councillor from Ward 10 in the Ambala Municipal Corporation, Mithun Verma said, “The corporation had allotted a tender of Rs 41.9 lakh for the cleaning of three major drains (ghel, inco and session drain),The employees of the corporation were engaged for the cleaning 89 minor drains, but the rain left the city inundated for two days. In the previous years, all major and minor drains used to be cleaned by private agencies. Even today, there are some areas where water is stagnant. Residents in various colonies and shopkeepers in the cloth market and other markets of Ambala City have suffered losses due to the rain.”

Joint Commissioner, Ambala Municipal Corporation, Aditi said, “Drains were cleaned but due to heavy rain the drains were overflowing. Soon after the rain stopped, the water started receding in a majority of the areas. While the major drains of the city were cleaned by an agency after allotting a tender, the minor drains were cleaned by the employees of the corporation. Encroachment on the drains has been an issue due to which the drains get blocked. Action will be taken in this matter. Now we are focusing on the sanitation and fogging so that there is no outbreak of any disease.”

Ambala Mayor Shakti Rani Sharma said, “The major and minor drains were cleaned and silt removed but due to overflowing of drains in the outer area of the city after heavy rain, it took time for the water to recede. Due to the construction of new highways, the natural flow of water has also got obstructed. There is a need to take measures for improving the water disposal system. Instead of blaming one another, all the departments need to work together to resolve the issue.”

Minister of State for Transport and Ambala City MLA Aseem Goel said, “Water drainage is a major issue here due to the geographical condition. Residents are also well aware of the fact that the shape of the City is like a bowl, which creates a problem in drainage. Around 230 mm rainfall was recorded on Sunday. All efforts are being made to improve the drainage system of Ambala and soon a master plan will be prepared with the help of IIT-Roorkee to resolve the issue.”