Nearly two hours of rain on Thursday morning brought Ludhiana to a standstill, exposing glaring gaps in the city’s civic infrastructure and monsoon preparedness. The downpour triggered widespread waterlogging across major roads, caused a road to cave in at Gurdev Chowk leaving a motorist injured, stranded vehicles, disrupted traffic, delayed ambulance and forced schoolchildren and office-goers to wade through flooded streets.
The spell of rain laid bare the stark contrast between the municipal corporation’s claims of monsoon readiness and the situation on the ground.
One of the most serious incidents was reported at Gurdev Chowk, where a portion of the road suddenly caved in after the heavy rain. A car plunged into the crater, injuring its driver and triggering panic among commuters besides causing massive traffic congestion in the area.
The driver said he had stopped to allow another vehicle coming from the opposite direction to pass when the road suddenly gave way beneath his car. “The road caved in suddenly and my car got trapped. I managed to jump out, but suffered injuries to my shoulder,” he said. The crater measured nearly 10 feet in width and four feet in depth. Local residents rushed to his rescue before civic officials reached the spot.
Municipal corporation joint commissioner Jasdev Singh Sekhon, who inspected Gurdev Chowk, said the cave-in was probably caused by leakage in the sewerage line, adding that underground utility work could also have weakened the road.
{{/usCountry}}Municipal corporation joint commissioner Jasdev Singh Sekhon, who inspected Gurdev Chowk, said the cave-in was probably caused by leakage in the sewerage line, adding that underground utility work could also have weakened the road.
{{/usCountry}}Explaining the widespread waterlogging across the city, Sekhon said Ludhiana’s decades-old and narrow sewerage network was unable to cope with heavy rainfall, causing drains to overflow.
The rain wreaked havoc across several parts of the city, with waterlogging reported from Dholewal Chowk, Clock Tower Road, Miller Ganj, Gill Road, Sherpur Chowk, Giaspura Chowk, Transport Nagar, Chandigarh Road, Dhoka Mohalla, Shivpuri, Basant Nagar and Jain Nagar. Several stretches remained submerged for hours, leaving motorists stranded and slowing traffic to a crawl.
The disruption affected emergency services as well. An ambulance was seen stranded in deep water, delaying its movement, while autorickshaws overturned after entering waterlogged stretches. Parents were forced to carry schoolchildren through flooded roads to reach schools, while office-goers and two-wheeler riders took long detours to avoid inundated roads.
Rajesh Kumar, a commuter travelling through Gill Road, said, “It was impossible to judge whether there was a pothole or an open manhole beneath the water. Every commuter was driving in fear. We left home on time but remained stuck in traffic for over an hour because most roads had turned into ponds.” The rain once again brought misery to residents of low-lying localities, including Dhoke Mohalla, Shivaji Nagar, New Shivaji Nagar, Kashmir Nagar, Ranjit Singh Park and Dharampura, where rainwater entered several houses.
Residents said the project to cover Buddha Nullah alongside Dhoke Mohalla, launched in 2021, remained incomplete despite repeated assurances that it would be finished before the onset of the monsoon. Only a few days ago, the local MLA and the municipal commissioner had visited the area and assured residents that adequate measures had been taken to prevent flooding this monsoon. However, residents said Thursday’s rain exposed the hollowness of those assurances.
Resident Manga Sharma said, “Last time we did not receive any compensation for the losses we suffered and this time too we fear the same situation may repeat.”
Activist and Gurdev Nagar resident Ravinder Pal Singh Ghai alleged that the accident at Gurdev Chowk reflected poor-quality civic works and official negligence. “I have repeatedly raised the issue of illegal road digging, which has weakened roads from within. Just one spell of heavy rain has exposed the city’s crumbling infrastructure. This accident shows how authorities’ negligence is putting citizens’ lives at risk,” he said.
Senior leader and former councillor Parminder Mehta blamed the municipal corporation’s failure to carry out pre-monsoon desilting and drain-cleaning works. “I had submitted a memorandum to the civic body on May 8 urging the authorities to clean sewerage chambers, road grates, stormwater drains and Buddha Nullah before the monsoon, but no serious action was taken. Because of the negligence of the O&M department, rainwater entered homes and shops causing losses worth lakhs of rupees, while sewerage mixed with rainwater flowed into houses in areas along Buddha Nullah. The Punjab government should compensate the affected residents and recover the amount from the officials responsible for the negligence,” he said.
Former chairman of the Punjab Large Industrial Development Board and former Ludhiana Urban Congress Committee president Pawan Dewan said, “Just a few hours of rain exposed the hollow claims of Ludhiana being a Smart City and raised serious questions over the quality of its civic infrastructure. Roads dug up in the name of development and poor drainage systems have left people to suffer. Instead of spending public money on self-promotional advertisements, the government should focus on building durable roads and a proper drainage network.”
Repeated calls and text messages sent to Mayor Inderjeet Kaur seeking her response to the situation remained unanswered till the filing of this report.
IMD forecasts more rain
Ludhiana received 19.7 mm of rainfall between the morning of July 29 and the morning of July 30, taking the district’s cumulative rainfall since June 1 to 196.7 mm, which falls within the normal range for the season, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
The weather office has forecast light rainfall at a few places on July 31, August 2 and August 3, while more widespread showers are likely across the district on August 1. No warning for thunderstorms or lightning has been issued. Among the district’s observation centres, the highest rainfall during the latest spell was recorded at Halwara, Punjab Agricultural University and Jagraon. The IMD has advised residents to avoid venturing into waterlogged areas and not to leave harvested crops in the open to minimise rain-related losses.
The fresh spell also brought respite from the heat. Ludhiana recorded a maximum temperature of 32.4 degrees Celsius on Thursday, 2.1 degrees below the previous day’s reading and 0.9 degrees below normal. The minimum temperature settled at 25 degrees Celsius, down 1.4 degrees from the previous day and 1 degree below normal.