E-Paper
Poor rain preparedness has Panchkula residents worried
Waterlogging not limited to just city’s colonies but also affects sectors, say worried Panchkula residents
With monsoon fast-approaching, residents’ worry over the problem of waterlogging, which has become a commonplace phenomenon across the city at this time of the year, has also returned.
Looking to take action, the residents have written a letter in advance to the authorities requesting them to gear up for all monsoon-related problems. Members of Citizens’ Welfare Association (CWA) wrote a letter to departments concerned of both the Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) and the Panchkula municipal corporation (MC).
“From the last two decades, we have been witnessing the same problem of waterlogging during monsoons. Instead of improving, the situation has only worsened in some of the sectors,” said SK Nayar, CWA president.
Over the last few monsoons, rainy water has entered city houses on multiple occasions and resulted in huge losses for the public. The problem is not only limited to just colonies, but has also spread across the city’s developed sectors as well.
Speaking of the efforts made by the city residents to help pinpoint the issues, Nayar said, “This time, we constituted a survey team of a few members of CWA and was headed by Er Mohan Lal Goel, (Retd) SDE, public health department, Haryana. The team found that most of the man-hole-covers on storm-water-pipes laid in the city have been either removed or displaced for beautification in the city.”
“The team also found how road gullies were choked with waste and needed cleanliness. Every time, MC issues tenders just before the rainy season, contractors are paid in corners to clean areas in a short span of time, hence the work is not carried satisfactorily and we end up with a waterlogged city,” he added.
Some of the worst-affected areas during heavy rain are Sectors 4, 8, 9, 10, 14, 15, 16, 19 and the Industrial Area.
Several round-abouts, including the Aggarwal Trust chowk, roundabout of Sec 9/10/15/16. Bhagat Singh Chowk, Parsuram Chowk; Sec 4/5/10/11, 11/12/12A/14 and other areas also get clogged at times.
CWA members have urged the authorities to clean all storm-water pipes, in addition to cleaning and repairing the road-gullies across the city.
Speaking about the monsoon preparedness, MC commissioner Dharamvir Singh said, “Tenders have already been floated. The repair work of damaged Circular Brick Drain for storm water drainage has already started. Our men are working in sectors like 7,8,9,19 and others.”
“We are hopeful that there will be no water logging this time,” he added.
