Chandigarh: After rain comes shine, but also road blockades & traffic jams
The situation worsened as the rail underbridge from the industrial area to Hallomajra was closed due to excessive waterlogging and traffic was diverted through the crowded Mauli Jagran and Rajiv Colony slums, leaving office goers fuming.
After three days of relentless downpour, tricity residents woke up to a sunny Tuesday, restoring a sense of normalcy, however, the trail of destruction in the form of road cave-ins, tree and bridge collapses and landslides necessitated traffic diversions, which led utter chaos on the roads.
Commuters entering Chandigarh from Panchkula or those driving on Madhya Marg on Tuesday morning had a harrowing time as they got stuck in jams as four key bridges near Sukhna choe, including Kishangarh, Shastri Nagar, Makhan Majra and CTU workshop, had been damaged due to continuous release of water in Sukhna Chow from regulator end gates of the Lake. These roads were closed by the administration following which the traffic from Panchkula, Manimajra, Mansa Devi Complex, and Panchkula’s Sector 17 were redirected to Madhya Marg, thus choking the key lifeline of the city near Housing Board light point, Kalagram and Railway Station light point.
The situation worsened as the rail underbridge from the industrial area to Hallomajra was closed due to excessive waterlogging and traffic was diverted through the crowded Mauli Jagran and Rajiv Colony slums, leaving office goers fuming.
According to officials, there was major traffic congestion on the Madhya Marg during office hours from 9 am till 11:30 am, prompting senior police officers, including a deputy superintendent of police (DSP) to get on the roads.
DSP Jaswinder Singh advised people to enter Chandigarh from Baltana and those coming from Sector 18, Panchkula, to take right from Mauli Jagran police station chowk. “Madhya Marg might take a long to get back to normal and thus commuters may face traffic congestion on the roads connecting Panchkula to Chandigarh for a few days,” the DSP added.
Sahil Sharma, a resident of Panchkula’s Sector 4, said he had to return home as his vehicle could hardly move amid the congestion on Madhya Marg. “It was no less than a nightmare for commuters who got stuck in the long traffic jams. I got really late for my office and at last returned home after remaining stuck in the traffic in front of Kalagram for over an hour,” said Sahil said.
Meanwhile, due to excessive waterlogging, the road on the bridge over Patiala ki Rao stream from Dadumajra village towards Mullanpur, Punjab remained closed. Due to repair work of the road near Sector 17 bus stand chowk, towards Sector 17, the road from Cricket stadium Chowk towards Sector 17 bus stand chowk was closed for road users.
The traffic was also diverted near Kaimbwala road due to excessive water logging.
MC teams on job to repair roads, damaged sewer, water lines
Meanwhile, the Chandigarh municipal corporation on Tuesday pressed several teams into action to restore collapsed and caved-in roads as well as damaged sewerage and water pipelines across the city. Though waterlogging had receded in most parts of the city by Tuesday, the MC deployed fire tenders to pump out water from affected areas, especially periphery areas including Khudda Lahora, Bapu Dham, Daria, Maloya and Dadumajra.
“Due to heavy rains, roads were badly damaged at several places but the worst affected roads are—V-3 road dividing Sector 14/15, towards Sector 14 side, due to broken storm water line underneath; approach road on both sides culvert in Industrial Area, near CTU workshop; V-3 road dividing Sector 31/47; V-5 Road Sector 47D; V5 road Sector 11 including road berm near underpass; parking of Japanese Garden, Sector 31; as well as V-3 Sector dividing 27/28 and 28/29,” said MC commissioner Anindita Mitra.
She added that teams have already started to repair the roads whereas short-term tenders will be floated to repair roads, where ever required.
In Manimajra, where the water supply has been affected due to the snapping of the main supply line, Mitra approximately 4 lakh litres of drinking water has been supplied through tankers. She added that the arrangement shall continue till the resumption of piped water supply services. Mayor Anup Gupta said engineering teams are on job and the supply shall be restored within 3 days.
Electricity supply has also been restored in affected areas, the administration said in a release. UT adviser Dharam Pal held a review meeting to assess the situation and the damage caused by unprecedented rains in Chandigarh on Tuesday.