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37mm rainfall in one hour leaves Ludhiana inundated
Around 37mm rainfall lashed Ludhiana within one hour on Sunday, leaving almost all parts of the city completely inundated; water accumulation at all main and internal roads of the city also resulted in traffic jams, leaving residents a harried lot
Around 37mm rainfall lashed the city within one hour on Sunday, leaving almost all parts of the city completely waterlogged.
Water accumulation at all main and internal roads of the city also resulted in traffic jams, leaving residents a harried lot, who slammed the municipal corporation’s (MC) claims of monsoon preparedness.
Even posh areas of the city including Sarabha Nagar, Gurdev Nagar, Model Town Extension and BRS Nagar were left inundated. A number of vehicles also developed snags and water entered houses and shops in multiple areas like Sarabha Nagar and Chaura Bazar.
Jasleen Kaur, a resident of Model Town Extension, said she was at BRS Nagar market when it started raining and severe waterlogging made it difficult to even step out of the shops. “The focus should be on installing storm water sewers across the city and the other projects can wait,” said Kaur.
Long queues of vehicles were also witnessed at areas like Ferozepur Road, Chandigarh Road and Bharat Nagar Chowk and the underpasses at Ferozepur Road and Pakhowal Road were also inundated.
Jagdeep Singh, a resident of Sarabha Nagar, said installation of interlocking tiles on road sides is also a major cause behind waterlogging. “ There is no space for the water to seep into the ground and the sewer lines are short on capacity. Accumulated water does get drained out eventually, but it takes times and residents have to bear the brunt,” he said.
MC superintending engineer Ravinder Garg said that heavy rainfall within a short period led to the waterlogging and the work to drain out the water has been completed in many areas.
Cars stuck, park wall collapses in Sarabha Nagar
Around 12 vehicles got stuck after road portions caved in at various points in Sarabha Nagar’s Block-H where water supply lines are being installed under the 24/7 water supply project and dug up portions have not been permanently repaired.
Residents said the road portions were dug up for installation of new lines and sand was poured on them. After the city witnessed heavy rainfall, the dug up portions caved-in.
SE Garg said that teams were rushed to Block-H and work is going on to pull out the vehicles and repair the damaged portion.
A wall of a park in Sarabha Nagar’s Block-I also collapsed and no injury was reported.
Showers lead to dip in mercury
The rainfall also led to a relief from the sultry weather in the city. The weather forecast said the maximum temperature was 32.7°C, but heavy rain coupled with strong winds brought it down to 23.4°C.
According to meteorological experts, the sudden and sharp rainfall will not help ground water recharge. “For ground water recharge, slow and sustained rainfall is needed for a longer period, but the water received through sharp and heavy rainfall runs off the surface and does not lead to recharging of water,” said PAU principal meteorologist Dr Prabhjyot Sidhu. As per the met department, rain and thunder showers are expected to continue for the next week.
