E-Paper
Water logging: Zirakpur’s drain-age-old problem returns with monsoon
Several city streets and roads, including Zirakpur-Patiala intersection, were submerged after Wednesday’s rain
For years, four lakh residents of Zirakpur, dubbed the gateway of Punjab, have found themselves at the receiving end of major water logging problems — much of which can be attributed to the absence of a stormwater drainage system.
On Wednesday, several city streets and roads were submerged after the rain. The Zirakpur-Patiala intersection under the flyover was flooded as well. Major traffic jams were seen on this stretch of the road. Punjab traffic police personnel were seen managing the traffic in knee-deep water, while vehicles were stranded in waterlogged roads. Rainwater also entered the houses and shops in multiple neighbourhoods..
There are at least 100 high-rise group housing societies, along with 40 commercial establishments, in the city, which is entirely dependent on choes and nullahs to drain out the excess rainwater.
The municipal corporation (MC) has, however, failed to clean the choes and nullahs in the lead-up to the monsoon. Blaming the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), MC president Udayvir Singh Dhillon said the party which has been in power in the committee the past two decades has failed to initiate any action in this regard, adding that it was a huge project.
Singh, however, expressed hope that the city will be rid of the waterlogging problem by next monsoon.
Conceding that the sewage was blocked in most parts of the city, he said the process can only be cleaned by employing the latest technology, which, according to him, was available in Ludhiana. “When the rainwater enters the sewerage system, it bounces back and results in water logging. We are in the process of cleaning it soon,” he said.
Dera Bassi MLA Kuljeet Singh Randhawa, meanwhile, blasted the SAD and Congress for their failure on the front of water logging, adding that he will try to ensure that the residents not suffer anymore.
MC executive officer Girish Verma, who was transferred on Tuesday, said the city was built a long time ago and the original plan lacked a stormwater drainage system. “It is a low-lying area and the town is entirely dependent on choes and nullahs,” he said.
Zirkapur joint action committee president Sukhdev Chaudhary, meanwhile, pointed out that every year during monsoons, residents of Zirakpur bear the brunt as they wade through waterlogged streets and drain out water from their shops and houses, but the authorities have not woken up,” he said.
Notably, the absence of a robust drainage system and dependency on natural drains is clearly mentioned in the Punjab Urban Planning and Development Authority’s (PUDA’s) Zirakpur master plan for 2031. In several areas, however, the drains and choes have been encroached upon — another consequence of the city’s exponential and unplanned growth.
“The town has witnessed 281.9% growth between 2001 and 2011 Census,” the master plan mentioned.
As external and internal development charges, the civic body collects ₹1 crore per acre from the residential group housing societies and ₹1.35 crore from the commercial establishments.
Speaking about the same, Zirakpur Builders Association president Harish Gupta said authorities have failed to build a proper drainage system despite the civic body being considered one of the richest in the state.
Monsoon catches Panchkula on the wrong foot again
With showers lashing Panchkula on Wednesday, many sectors were flooded with rainwater and cars were seen ploughing through knee-deep water in several areas.
Despite the meteorological department’s timely warning regarding the arrival of monsoon, the civic body failed to resolve the recurring waterlogging issue, which has been plaguing residents for decades. Just after a few hours of downpour, waterlogging was observed several areas, with Sector 19, the last sector bordering Punjab, the worst affected.
A Sector-19 resident, Naresh Saini, 56, said, “Water accumulation on the road was at least 10 inches deep on Wednesday morning. People could not leave for work until the rainwater drained out. Every year, in monsoon, our vehicles get damaged due to waterlogging in the area and often stinking water enters houses, damaging furniture.”
The soaked roads make the streets accident-prone, and waterlogging exacerbates the situation, especially for those riding two wheelers. “Two scooterists met with road mishaps this morning because of water accumulation on the roads,” said Saini.
On whether the civic body had taken any measures to solve the problem, Saini said, “The civic body has constructed eight to nine 20-feet deep holes in the area to temporarily solve the problem, but they have not been particularly useful. It takes time for municipal corporation (MC) staffers to pump out the water,” Saini said.
Meanwhile, mayor Kulbhushan Goyal said that the issue was only persisting in Sector 19, while it had been resolved in all other areas. “Four additional rainwater harvesters have been constructed in Sector 19, which will help alleviate the problem to some extent. Next year, an underground pipe will also be laid in the area.”
However, city residents deny the mayor’s claim. Citizens welfare association president SK Nayar said, “At around 7.30pm, there was knee-deep water accumulation at the Sector 15/9/16 roundabout as all gullies were blocked. A similar situation was seen at other roundabouts and most city squares remained waterlogged for hours.”
Sector 20 Resident Welfare Association president KK Jindal said, “Rainwater enters our societies and damages vehicles and other valuables. This happens because the municipal corporation keeps on adding layers to the road during re-carpeting, due to which the level of roads increases and our societies are flooded with rainwater.”
When questioned about the complaints received from residents of Sector 12, 20 and other areas, the mayor said: “There are 25,000 road gullies in Panchkula. We cannot ensure that all of them are clean at all times, despite our best efforts. We have solved 90% of the problem, but it is difficult to say that there will be no waterlogging at all.”
The problem, however, has been sorted out in a few sectors such as the posh Sector 8. RP Malhotra, a resident of Sector 8, said, “Each year, the houses located on the periphery would face the issue, but this time there was no waterlogging because an underground pipe was laid in the sector.”
The mayor said no new tenders regarding rainwater management were issued this year, as work was still pending on the tenders allotted in July and August.
“We laid a three-foot deep storm water pipeline, connecting the roundabout of sector 8 / 16 and have linked it with the stormwater drain in Rajiv Colony. A similar pipeline was laid in Budhanpur village. The project cost ₹32 lakh,” the mayor said, adding that work to lay a water pipeline in Sector 10 was underway.
