Commuters suffer as rain lashes Noida, Ghaziabad

Ghaziabad was in a “watery” mess on Saturday as roads got inundated, residents grappled to flush out water from their homes, commuters struggled to push their broken-down vehicles through waterlogged stretches and long traffic jams dominated major roads as the city received one of the heaviest showers this monsoon

Ghaziabad was in a “watery” mess on Saturday as roads got inundated, residents grappled to flush out water from their homes, commuters struggled to push their broken-down vehicles through waterlogged stretches and long traffic jams dominated major roads as the city received one of the heaviest showers this monsoon. Noida too received its fair share of high rainfall on Saturday, that left several roads waterlogged.

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According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Ghaziabad district recorded 26.6mm rainfall on Saturday against the estimated normal precipitation of 2.4mmfor September 11. So far, since June 1, the district has received total 267.7mm rain against the normal of 491.9mm.

Noida received 31mm rainfall between 8.30am and 5.30pm on Saturday, taking the city’s overall rainfall to 187mm against the average precipitation of 491.7 mm.

R K Jenamani, a senior scientist at IMD said, “The region may see another spell of rainfall on Sunday... but later, the intensity will drop. There is a low pressure area over eastern Rajasthan that is causing the rainfall in the region. It’s effect will eventually wear out. However, the low intensity sporadic light rains may continue beyond Sunday.”

According to weather experts, monsoon will remain active in the region as another low pressure area is also developing. “There is a fresh low pressure area developing in north-east Bay of Bengal and this is likely to reach Odisha by tomorrow (Sunday). This will lead to further rains in central and north-west India from September 16 onwards,” Dr M Mohapatra, director general of meteorology, IMD.

Meanwhile, the high intensity rainfall in both the regions led to water logging, traffic snarls and jams at several places.

Vinay Gautam, who lives in a ground-floor house in Valmiki Kunj near Patel Nagar II in Ghaziabad, watchedhelplesslyas rainwater started entering his house since early morning. “There was one-and-a-half foot water in my home. I and my family members watched in despair as water entered our home and damaged our belongings. We couldn’t even flush out the water since the roads were already waterlogged. Last week, when it rained heavily, it took two days for the water levels to recede,” said Gautam.

Heavy rain, coupled with a road cave-in near Shipra Shrishti high-rise in Indirapuram, forced most residents to stay indoors.

“There was heavy waterlogging near Shipra Sun City, Ahimsa Khand II, Vaibhav Khand and other areas. Moreover, there was a major road cave-in near Shipra Shrishti high-rise, that was more than 10-12ft wide. We informed the Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) but no one responded till 10am,” said Alok Kumar, a resident of Arihant Harmony in Ahimsa Khand II, Indirapuram.

A K Chaudhary, executive engineer from GDA, said several teams were deployed in Indirapuram. “We also roped in jetting machines to flush out water. The caved-in road was barricaded, and repair will start once rain stops,” said Chaudhary.

As heavy rainfall lashed Ghaziabad till Saturday evening, dozens of vehicles broke down on major roads like the Link Road, GT Road and Meerut Road due to heavy waterlogging.

Vijay Nagar resident Pradeep Kumar took about an hour to cover a distance of about 7km from Crossings Republik to Kavi Nagar. “There was more than 1ft water at Lal Kuan intersection. When I tried passing through the industrial areas, they too were heavily waterlogged. Besides, many vehicles broke down and that compounded traffic,” said Kumar.

The situation was no different in Vaishali, where there was heavy waterlogging in Sectors 2, 4 and 5. “I postponed my travel in the morning due to heavy waterlogging. When it rained previously, my car broke down and I had to shell out a heft amount for its repairs,” said Mohit Sharma, a resident of Vaishali’s Sector 1.

“We had to deploy all of our eight towing vans since early morning to tow the vehicles which broke down at Bhopra, Mohan Nagar, Arthala, Meerut tri-junction and other places. Our personnel were on the roads throughout the day to streamline traffic and remove snarls,” said Ramanand Kushwaha, superintendent of police (traffic).

Officials of the Ghaziabad municipal corporation said their teams were deployed in all five zones.

“Due to heavy rain, we implemented the plan we rolled out in August to tackle waterlogging in different areas. Different teams headed by our officers were deployed across the city to flush out water from waterlogged stretches. The volume of rainwater was exceptionally high on Saturday, and it will take some time for the water levels to recede,” said Ghaziabad municipal commissioner M S Tanwar.

In Noida, the worst affected areas were Labour Chowk, the underpass at Mamura metro bridge in Sector 61, parts of Sectors 51, 62, 72, 75, 76, Barola and the underpass at Sector 18.

“The traffic was moving very slowly due to heavy rainfall and waterlogging. The worst affected area was the stretch from Said Temple to Parthala Chowk, from where we had to reroute vehicles through Gadhi road. Traffic was also affected at Kulesara in Greater Noida, Labour Chowk in Noida and the underpass after Mamura ,” said an official from the Noida traffic police department.

“We installed pumps and deployed workers to flush out water from inundated roads. By evening, most of such waterlogged areas were cleared,” said an official from the Noida authority, requesting anonymity.

Meanwhile, residents said there was no improvement in the authority’s approach to solve the perennial issue of waterlogging.

Manoj Chandel, a resident of Sector 76, said, “The underpass at Sector 18 was heavily waterlogged in the morning when I was leaving for work. When I returned in the evening, the water from underpasses was flushed out but the road above still had water on the sides.”

Amit Gupta, a resident of Noida’s Sector 77 and a social worker said, “The Noida authority takes up works that requires digging at roadside. At Sector 77, there are big craters, which have been dug to maintain pipes, which have been left open and are filled with water.”

Man struck by lightning dies

A 22-year-old man, identified as Guddu, a resident of Yaseen Garhi in Dasna, died after lightning struck him at a pond in Ghaziabad’s Dasna around 2pm on Saturday.

“The man had gone fishing at a pond, when lightning struck him. He suffered severe burn injuries and died on the spot,” said Iraj Raja, superintendent of rural police.

He added his friends Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Salim also suffered burns, but they were discharged after primary treatment.