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2 bikers get stuck in overflowing Patiala ki Rao stream, rescued
This is the second such incident in 13 days; rescue ops lasted almost half an hour while the bikers remained stranded for around 45 minutes
Thirteen days after four men had a narrow escape after their cab got stuck in the overflowing Patiala Ki Rao stream on the Dadumajra-Togan road, following a downpour on June 1, two motorcyclists met with the same fate on late Tuesday evening.
Police said the bikers, identified as Joginder Singh, 28, of Boothgarh, Mohali, and Surender Kumar, 23 of Sector 8, Chandigarh, employees of a private hospital in Mohali, were crossing the bridge over the swollen Patiala Ki Rao, when their two-wheeler got stuck, leaving them stranded.
It was around 15 minutes later that a passerby spotted the duo, holding on to iron pillars in a bid to avoid getting drowned in the gushing water. The passerby raised the alarm and informed the police, following which more people, including scrap dealers operating nearby, gathered at the spot.
After getting information, the police control room immediately alerted the Maloya police and the Sector 38 fire station following which a police team led by sub-inspector Karam Singh and firemen reached the spot to conduct a joint rescue operation.
“The victims were in a state of panic when we reached there. The fire team rescued them using a rope in an operation that lasted 30 minutes,” said a senior police officer.
He added that the bikers failed to judge the dept of the water due to which their bike got stuck in a huge pit on an unmetalled road. Later, a PCR was deployed near the said bridge to alert other commuters. The victims’ bike was towed in the morning after the water-level went down.
Maloya SHO writes to SSP
With two life threatening incidents reported in the past 14 days, Maloya station house officer Jaspal Singh, on Wednesday, has written to senior superintendent of police (SSP), Chandigarh, raising concerns over the road and bridge which has been posing risk to the lives of commuters.
The SHO, in his letter requesting action by the local administration, stated that heavy rains cause flooding in the area, which eventually poses a risk to the lives of the road users as they fail to judge the depth of water. A senior police officer said that UT Police will write to the authorities concerned to repair the road to avoid an untoward situation.
In July 2022, a 22-year-old cab driver and a 26-year-old female passenger were killed after their car was swept away in the seasonal stream in Tanda village. A month later, in August, a couple was swept away in a flash flood in the rivulet on the Tanda-Koror Road in Mohali.
