Chandigarh, Panchkula, Mohali face flood threat amid unprecedented rain

Chandigarh recorded 449mm of rainfall in a span of 50 hours, which is 40% of the annual rainfall quota of the city

After record-breaking rain on Sunday, Chandigarh and its satellite districts of Panchkula and Mohali in Haryana and Punjab, respectively, faced flood threat on Monday amid an incessant downpour since morning in the region, particularly Himachal Pradesh.

Two floodgates of Sukhna Lake were opened on Sunday after its water levels crossed the danger mark in Chandigarh. (Sant Arora/ HT Photo)

Chandigarh recorded 96mm of rainfall till 8.30am and added on another 51mm till 10.30am, making it a total of 449mm of rainfall in a span of 50 hours, which is 40% of the annual rainfall quota of the city, weatherman Navdeep Dahiya tweeted.

As more rain is forecast in the tricity, another 100+ accumulation is expected in Chandigarh, Panchkula and Mohali. To make matters worse, unprecedented heavy rain is underway in Himachal Pradesh, leading to rivers, such as the Sutlej, Beas and Ghaggar flowing above the danger mark and flooding low-lying catchment areas.

Orange alert declared

An orange alert has been declared in Chandigarh and its surrounding areas as moderate to intense rainfall is likely to continue during the day. Orange is the second highest of the four colour warning system used by the IMD and it asks people to stay alert and be prepared.

It is expected that intensity of rain will reduce from Tuesday.

The airport observatory recorded 160.6mm of rainfall till 10.30am, while the automatic weather station in Panchkula recorded 69.5mm of rainfall.

According to AK Singh, the director of the Indian Meteorological Department’s Chandigarh centre, the intensity of rainfall is high because of a strong western disturbance (WD) affecting the region and its confluence with the monsoon system and a cyclonic system formed over the region. It is likely to continue on Monday as well but from Tuesday the effect of the WD is expected to stop.

This comes after 302.2mm of rainfall was recorded on Sunday, making it the wettest day in Chandigarh of all time.

Ropar, Rajpura, Yamunanagar bear brunt

In the tricity, Mohali continues to have the most water-logging issues as was seen on Sunday as well.

Till 8.30am, highest amount of rainfall recorded was in Punjab with 350mm rainfall in Ropar, 259.6mm at Rajpura in Patiala district, and 201.2mm in Nawanshahr.

In Haryana, 242mm of rainfall was recorded in Ismailabad, Kurukshetra, 218.3mm at Tajewal, Yamunanagar, and 197mm in Pratap Nagar, Yamunanagar.

Panjab University declares holiday

Panjab University (PU) declared a holiday on Monday. The notification issued in the morning itself by the PU registrar said the main campus, regional centres and all constituent and affiliated colleges of the university shall be closed for the day in view of the heavy rain. A B Ed second semester exam scheduled on Monday was postponed.