Torrential winds and incessant rains hit the normal life of the city residents as uprooted trees, damaged electricity poles and slushy roads marred by potholes filled with rainwater threw the traffic out of gear.
Apart from various key roads, including Ferozepur Road, Pakhowal Road, National Highway-44, Chandigarh Road and Gill Road, many other roads of the city were marred by congestion due to waterlogging after the rainfall on the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday.
Such was the impact of thunderstorms that as many as 20 fully-grown trees were uprooted while 24 electric poles were damaged. The areas which were affected due to damaged electric poles include Focal Point, Sunder Nagar, Aggar Nagar, and Urban Estate among others.
Trees were uprooted in Sarabha Nagar, Dugri, Kitchlu Nagar, Bahadur ke road, and other areas.
Karan Verma, a resident of Rahon Road said that a large tree fell on his car which was parked outside his home, causing major damage.
Low-lying areas of the old city and the areas along Buddha Nullah were among the worst hit due to rain.
{{/usCountry}}Low-lying areas of the old city and the areas along Buddha Nullah were among the worst hit due to rain.
{{/usCountry}}Commuters at the under-construction stretch of the Ferozepur Road were a harried lot as a major portion of the road has been dug up for the laying of high-voltage electric wires.
The water-filled potholes posed a major inconvenience to residents on Thursday.
Balpreet Singh, a resident of Sarabha Nagar said, “Every rain adds to the misery of motorists in the city, even the most commercialised lane of the city is not free from potholes.”
Despite the city municipal corporation’s tall claims of installing or improving the sewage system on waterlogging-prone Chandigarh Road, it remained flooded throughout Wednesday night.
After an hour-long spell of rain, a portion of the road in Phase-1 of Dugri sunk into earth after which an SUV and a truck were stuck on the road leading to long jams.
A 23-year-old resident of Sattowal village died after a huge tree fell on him on Bajra road when he was going to supply milk on his bike.
The deceased has been identified as Gurjeet Singh. He was the youngest member of his family of six, including three sisters. The accident took place around 5:30pm, he was taken to Dayanand Medical Hospital where he succumbed to injuries.
Rajmeet Singh, a resident of Rajguru Nagar, said that the witnessed electricity cuts spanning hours due to rains on Wednesday night. Several other areas, including Tibba Road, Giaspura, Manjeet Nagar, Hambran Road, and Vishvakarma town were also affected by the power cuts.
Chief engineer Inderpal Singh said that the electricity department suffered a loss of around ₹51 lakh. He added that the department tried its best to resolve the complaints of the residents.