Gusty winds leave trail of destruction in Mohali, Chandigarh

Two flights had to be diverted and one cancelled at Chandigarh International Airport due to bad weather

CHANDIGARH/MOHALI Thundershowers accompanied by gusty winds blowing at speeds up to 48 kilometre/hour uprooted a number of trees and signboards, damaging property and leading to power outages and traffic snarls in many parts of the tricity, especially Mohali that also reported road cave-ins, on Monday afternoon.

Two flights had to be diverted and one cancelled at Chandigarh International Airport due to inclement weather. Though the strong winds lasted for just under an hour, 10.6mm rain was recorded till late in the evening.

The rain started pouring around 2pm, with the sky turning dark due to clouds. Wind speed went up to 30 km/hr at the India Meteorological Department (IMD) observatory in Sector 39, while maximum speed of 48 km/hr was recorded at the airport around 2:30 in the afternoon.

“Strong winds and rain occurred due to the confluence of western disturbances with low-level easterly winds laden with moisture from the Arabian sea,” said IMD scientist Shivinder Singh. He said rain is likely to stop on Tuesday, but another system of western disturbances is expected to affect the region from Wednesday onwards and more rain can be expected up to Friday.

Vehicles damaged across tricity

Around a dozen cars and two-wheelers were damaged after trees and signage came crashing down on them in several parts of Mohali, including Phases 3, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11 and the Industrial Area.

A mobile tower also fell on the roof of a building at the BSNL residential colony in Sector 66. In several markets, glow signboards, too, came crashing down. However, no one was reported to be injured in any of these incidents.

At Mohali Golf Range in Phase 11, protection nets fixed with four iron poles were uprooted and fell on vehicles parked in the residential area, blocking the road.

“A family had a narrow escape, as they had disembarked from their car seconds before one of the pillars fell on it, damaging it completely,” said area councillor Upinder Preet Kaur.

Municipal commissioner Kamal Kumar Garg, too, rushed to the spot to take stock of the situation.

Mohali deputy commissioner Girish Dayalan said firefighters and medical teams were put on alert. The fire brigade was asked to be on their toes as reports of vehicles getting stuck under fallen trees were being received from various parts of the city.

In Chandigarh, according to officials of the horticulture wing of the municipal corporation (MC), seven trees were uprooted in Sectors 8, 20, 33, 49, 51 and Manimajra. Big branches of trees fell at eight places, including Sectors 21, 32, 33, 46, 51 and near Centra Mall in the Industrial Area, Phase 1. Small branches fell at many places, leading to a flurry of calls to the officials till late in the evening.

In Panchkula, there was a solitary report of a car getting damaged after a tree fell on it in Sector 9.

Power pangs, cave-ins, traffic snarls and more

Many uprooted trees fell on high-tension wires and electricity poles, leading to power outages for up to 45 minutes in and around Mohali, including Kharar, Mullanpur, Zirakpur and Dera Bassi.

Fallen trees also obstructed traffic, leading to snarl-ups on the PCA road, opposite the civil hospital in Phase 1, near the golf range and on some inner roads. The road dividing Phases 4 and 5 also got blocked, restricting movement towards the market.

Meanwhile, road cave-ins were reported near Forest Complex and Sector 68/69 road, adding to traffic chaos.

Logjams were reported from main highways in Kharar and Zirakpur too.

In Chandigarh, an uprooted tree blocked the Sector 41/42 road, leading to a traffic jam for about half an hour. However, as the rain wasn’t heavy, there was no complaint of waterlogging, according to MC public health officials.

Two flights diverted, one cancelled

Two Indigo flights, which were set to land at Chandigarh International Airport, were diverted to other airports to “ensure safety of passengers” amid “high wind speed and thick cloud cover”.

The Mumbai-Chandigarh flight that arrives here at 12.10pm was diverted to Delhi, while the one from Hyderabad, which was supposed to land here at 2.55pm, was diverted to Lucknow, said an airport spokesperson.

Meanwhile, GoAir cancelled its Srinagar flight due to bad weather in the Valley.

Another spell from Wednesday

Though a lull is expected on Tuesday, another system of western disturbances is likely to cover parts of Haryana on Wednesday evening and bring rain and thunder in Chandigarh on Thursday and Friday, said the weatherman.

Maximum rain is likely on Thursday, with chances of hail too. However, wind speeds are unlikely to go up to what were seen on Monday, said IMD scientist Shivinder Singh.

Maximum temperature dropped from 18.7°C on Sunday to 17.5°C on Monday, three degrees below normal. Minimum temperature shot up from 9.7°C to 11.3°C, six notches above normal.

Amid cloudy sky, maximum temperature will stay four to five notches below normal and minimum temperature will be four to five degrees above normal, said Singh. Heavy snowfall in Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh is also likely to make the weather chilly in the coming days.