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₹4.4 crore: The cost to fix Chandigarh battered by heavy rain
Bigger cave-ins will take over six weeks for repairs as tenders need to be floated; smaller repairs are already underway in Chandigarh
The widespread damage to sewer and storm water drainage pipelines and multiple cave-ins following heavy rain over the weekend is set to cost the Chandigarh municipal corporation (MC) over ₹4.43 crore in repairs.
As per estimates prepared by the civic body, of the total amount, ₹3.68 crore alone will be spent on repairing the battered sewer and storm water drains that as per preliminary assessment have been damaged at 45 different locations in the city.
The major damages are at the 31/32/46/47 roundabout on the Sector 47 side and at Japanese Garden, Sector 31.
In terms of repairing road cave-ins, MC will have to spend around ₹61.69 lakh. Of the total, ₹4.15 lakh will be used to repair the sunken road between Sector 14 and 15 near Panjab University, whereas ₹3 lakh will be spent on fixing the Sector 11-15 underpass. Fixing potholes across the city will cost ₹54.54 lakh.
Also, of the total estimate, ₹13.46 lakh will be needed for repairing boundary walls, sealing broken walls and a road cave-in on a V5 road in Sector 47-D.
MC commissioner Anindita Mitra said, “Survey is going on in other places also to prepare a final list of damages. MC teams have already started minor repairs, whereas short-term tenders will be floated to fix major damages. All repair work will be done as per the norms of central public works department. Repairs of bigger cave-ins like on the road dividing Sector 14 and 15 will take around 40-45 days. MC has already started filling potholes across the city for safe commute.”
She added, “The estimate of budget for repairing the main canal water supply pipeline of 80 mm near Bapu Dham Colony is also being prepared. The damaged pipeline has disrupted water supply to entire Manimajra. Engineering teams are on the job day and night and supply will be restored in two days. We are also communicating with the Punjab government officials for repair of Kajauli water works.”
45 cave-ins fixed by Mohali MC
Mohali The Mohali MC has resolved 100 complaints related to roads, sewerage and fallen trees during the last two days, said MC commissioner Navjot Kaur.
She said as per directions of the deputy commissioner to various departments to put things right following the mess created by floods, MC teams were working on war footing round-the-clock. She said the team led by executive engineer Kamaldeep Singh had repaired 45 cave-ins and removed 33 fallen trees, besides repairing 22 pits on roads, adding that it was a daunting task to restore the situation in a short span of time, but dedicated MC teams worked swiftly to bring back normalcy.
While lauding efforts of joint commissioner Kiran Sharma, she said despite limited resources, MC teams worked day and night to drain out standing water from Phase 4, 5, 9 and 11, and Sector 71.
On the administration’s end, Mohali deputy commissioner Aashika Jain said restoration work of essential services like power, water supply and road connectivity were in progress and 95% of disrupted power supply had resumed.
Taking stock of post-flood measures taken by stakeholder departments on Wednesday, Jain said around 32 water supply pipelines were reported to be non-functional due to flooding: “Now, 27 have been made functional, while rest will start working by Thursday evening.”
Nine villages in Dera Bassi still flooded
In Dera Bassi, SDM Himanshu Gupta has tasked the kanungo to prepare a report of damages caused by floods in Dera Bassi sub-division and submit it within one month.
Due to breach in Ghaggar river, nine villages in the sub-division still remain under water, including Alamgir, Sadhawala, Dandehra, Khajur Mandi, Tiwana, Bahora, Bahori, Sarsini and Khajur Mandi.
Waterlogging: Panchkula MC officials pin blame on potholes
Panchkula After various sectors of Panchkula were inundated owing to incessant rains, MC officials have blamed potholes for the deluge.
In a meeting of the officers of engineering wing and sanitation branch, chaired by MC commissioner Sachin Gupta, the officials blamed potholes on roads for waterlogging.
The meeting was called to take stock of the current situation of waterlogging in the city and officials updated that water had receded across Panchkula as of Wednesday.
MC commissioner directed the officials to fill up the potholes after floating tenders and complete the patchwork soon to avoid stagnation of water on roads. He also directed the officials to ensure that whatever tenders had been floated should not be recalled to ensure work was not delayed.
During the meeting, the commissioner praised MC’s rapid action task force and the entire team that worked round-the-clock to keep waterlogging under control and minimise damage in city.
He even gave appreciation letters to executive engineer Pramod Kumar and chief sanitation inspector (CSI) Avinash Singla for working with dedication during the heavy rains.
The commissioner was also informed that door-to-door garbage collection was adversely affected due to rain. Commissioner directed the CSI to get the garbage cleared with special focus on areas where dirt had spread due to rain.
900 provided shelter in Panchkula rescue camps
Panchkula deputy commissioner Priyanka Soni said flood relief camps had been set up at Apple Market and White House in Pinjore, and Saini Hall in Surajpur, where approximately 900 evacuated individuals had been provided shelter.
Teams from the Panchkula administration, along with voluntary organisations, are working tirelessly to provide food and other essential relief material to evacuees.
Dr Sumita Misra, additional chief secretary of medical education and research, who is in charge of flood and disaster management in the district, had visited the relief camps on Tuesday to assess the arrangements.
Seven major roads in Mohali still out of bounds
Mohali deputy commissioner Aashika Jain said due to damages, seven roads in the district were still disconnected for traffic. These include Chappar Chiri Kalan to Sector 91, Kharar-Chandigarh Road to Barmajra, Kambala Rurka, Dharamgarh to Kandiala, Karaundiwala-Bagindi, Miyanpur Changar, Miyapur to Tarapur and Banur-Petla Road to Lehili.
Traffic movement restored between Morni, Panchkula, HP
Panchkula deputy commissioner Priyanka Soni said traffic movement for only light motor vehicles had been restored on several roads connecting Morni with Panchkula, Himachal Pradesh (HP) border and other nearby villages.
These include the road between Jallah village and Panchkula via Chandimandir, and Morni-Tikkartal-Raipur Rani road.
Sharing status of roads connecting Morni with HP border and other villages, Soni said restoration work on the Morni-Sherlatal-Rajlitikri-Harkaghat road, up to the HP border, was completed on Wednesday.
Similarly, the Morni-Sherlatal-Badyal-Neembwala road, up to the HP border, has also been restored. Furthermore, the Morni-Khartia-Badisher road has also been reopened.
She said clearance of Jallah to Mandhana road will take time due to extensive landslides.
The Morni-Trilokpur road was already reopened on Tuesday.
