Heavy rain leaves Ludhiana roads flooded, traffic hit

Potholed roads and traffic jams added to the woes of the motorists; several vehicles also broke down due to water accumulation

The Punjab government’s tall claims of transforming Ludhiana into a Smart City were washed away by the heavy rain on Saturday morning. Roads across the district were flooded causing a lot of inconvenience to the commuters. Ludhiana received around 29 mm of rainfall on Saturday.

Roads across the district were flooded causing a lot of inconvenience to commuters. Ludhiana received around 29 mm of rainfall on Saturday. (Gurpreet Singh/HT)

Potholed roads and traffic jams added to the woes of the motorists. Several vehicles also broke down due to water accumulation. Commuters had a harrowing time on the Ferozepur Road, especially near the Bhai Bala intersection where the construction of an elevated road is going on. The heavy rains caused flooding in several parts of the city, including Gill Road, Miller Ganj, Jamalpur, Haibowal, Civil Lines, Hambran Road, Dholewal, Giaspura, Sherpur, Focal point, Industrial Area, Shimlapuri, and Chandigarh Road.

City residents have time and again made complaints to the authorities in this regard but to no avail.

Hemlata Kumari, 43, from Haibowal said, “I work at a private garment store in Ghumar Mandi. I was late to work by an hour as my Activa broke down midway due to waterlogging on the roads.”

Suraj Kumar Sharma, 34, who manages an electronics store on the Ferozepur Road, had to lay bricks on a puddled road to make way for his customers.

“When we go to the Municipal Corporation office, they say the area has temporarily been handed over to the NHAI and when we approach the NHAI, they send us away citing the construction of an elevated road,” she said.

Besides office employees, students too had to struggle to reach their respective colleges on time. They said either they reached late and missed a lecture or two or had to take a leave to escape the waterlogged roads.

Anjali Dudeja, a resident of Jamalpur, said she goes to her college where she works in Baddowal daily but is unable to commute when it rains. “There is so much sludge and waterlogging on roads near my house that either I reach late for work, or I am forced to take a leave,” she said.

Ravinder Garg, superintendent engineer, Municipal Corporation, said, “In Ludhiana we do not have a storm sewerage system like any other planned city. With heavy and continuous rain, it takes time for water to drain through the combined sewerage system and take takes longer when there is any kind of garbage stuck in the pipeline.”

He said, “However, our team did a fairly nice job today and cleared the waterlogged roads within a few hours.”