Civic amenities missing in city’s periphery
Waterlogging has become a regular occurrence in the tricity. The main reason is that rapid urbanisation in Chandigarh’s periphery is not accompanied by simultaneous provision of civic amenities, mainly stormwater drainage. What worsens the situation is that MC officials and elected councillors are indifferent to people’s problems. The need of the hour is to upgrade civic infrastructure and also make rainwater harvesting mandatory for all residential and commercial buildings in Chandigarh and its surrounding areas.
Surbhi Negi, Panchkula
Need comprehensive review of drainage system
Waterlogging has become a regular feature in the tricity and its periphery. The main stormwater drains may have been well-designed but inadequacy of road gullies and blockages appear to be the culprit. There is need for a comprehensive review of drainage system, including those in periphery areas. Piecemeal design of drainage pockets will only complicate matters and increase the agony. Unapporoved and illegal construction after approval of the masterplan often create more problems by disturbing the existing and planned flow patterns of the stormwaters. Multiple civic authorities, with least coordination and lack of technical know-how, will fail the best of designs and derail all positive efforts to address the drainage issue.
DS Banati, Mohali
{{/usCountry}}DS Banati, Mohali
{{/usCountry}}Use development charges for infra upgrade
To prevent the recurrence of the sinking feeling every time, the drainage system of societies in the periphery of Chandigarh need to be upgraded. Unfortunately, the MC has completely failed to do so, though they are charging an amount as development charges from builders. Loopholes and lapses need to be unplugged by desilting the choes and cleaning the stormwater drains in congested old localities.
Garv Bhupesh Verma, Panchkula
Proper drainage outlets
Recently, rains painted a sorry picture of various places in Chandigarh and nearby areas such as New Chandigarh (Mullanpur) and Zirakhpur, where flooded roads and cracked foundations became a nightmare for the residents. A comprehensive drainage system with surface and sub-surface drains, proper discharge outlets and segregation of rain and sewerage water must be provided to Chandigarh as well its periphery areas to avoid such a situation.
Komal Sharma, New Chandigarh
A bane for new residential areas
Knee-deep inundation after just an hour of rain is acceptable in places such as old Delhi, which were developed years ago, but not for places such as Zirakpur, Mullanpar or Manimajra, which have come up in the last few years. Even after so many technological advancements, if problems such as waterlogging are a regular feature of new townships, it only points to apathy of the authorities. Desilting of nearby rivulets for longer periods or construction of high-rise apartments may be a reason for waterlogging but the fact remains that lack of proper drainage system is a major problem.
SC Luthra, Chandigarh
Fix accountability
The basic problem is the lack of fixing accountability at every level—be it the person who builds such townships, the person who is supposed to work out the plan, the field staff who are supposed to be on ground and check for problem areas. Only then can the laws in existence be implemented
Chander Vij, via email
New townships not properly planned
The war between Mother Nature and man’s needs or greed is not new. As per the original plan of Chandigarh, the whole area covering Mohali, Zirakhpur and Panchkula were to act as the lungs of the city for fresh breath of air. With an increase in the population across the city, new areas were needed for the people to live in. That has resulted in the construction of skyscrapers around the city in the last one decade. All agricultural land was taken over by developers. The colonies and townships that have come up don’t have a proper plans or drainage systems. Moreover, these block the natural streams of rainwater or seasonal rivulets. All these contribute to nature hitting back.
Suresh Verma, Chandigarh
Master plan needed for periphery areas
Haphazard growth of apartments and housing complexes near periphery of Chandigarh such as Zirakpur, Kharar, Nayagaun etc are main causes of flooding. The MCs concerned should develop a master plan for their area to cater to future expansion and make a central sewerage system to avoid recurring flooding and choking of drains. There should be a proper drainage system along the roads, bridges and culverts to allow free flow of water. Finally, efforts should be made to segregate plastic waste to ensure it does not choke drains and sewerage pipelines.
Col.TBS Bedi.(Retd), Mohali
Check illegal colonies
The population increase and rapid, unplanned urbanization are the main reasons why waterlogging has become a regular feature in the city and its surrounding areas. To find out an alternate solution. Punjab & Haryana government, along with the UT administration, should seek out a proper solution for this grim situation. At least, they should have to take initial action to stop all illegal colonies and unplanned concrete constructions.
Sandeep Rawat, Chandigarh
Rain readiness
Municipal corporation must take certain measures before the onset of monsoon to ensure there is no waterlogging. These include: proper cleaning of roads to keep them litter-free so that there is no chance of drains choking, re-laying of roads for proper drainage of accumulated water, doing away with plastic bags as these are the biggest cause of blockage, identification of areas prone to waterlogging so that water pumps can be dispatched to these areas for quick clearing of water.
Prabhjot Nagpal, Zirakpur
The unplanned periphery of planned city
Chandigarh is a well-planned city but attention must also be paid to its peripheries. When roads are constructed, a public committee must be formed to keep an eye on construction work so future problems can be averted. Rainwater must be harvested for groundwater recharge. People should be senistised against the use of polybags and irresponsible discarding of household garbage, which lead to choking of drains. The municipal authorities must ensure timely cleaning of storm sewers.
Subhash Nagpal, Zirakpur
Stop encroachments on seasonal waterways
Apart from clogged drainage pipes and manholes, the main reason for waterlogging in the city is unauthorised encroachments on natural seasonal waterways in the periphery, which hampers the free flow of rainwater. While the Chandigarh administration should clear the unauthorised encroachments in villages falling in its territory, it should ask Punjab and Haryana governments to do the same in areas under its jurisdiction. Regular cleaning of underground pipelines and manholes in the city should be undertaken.
AK Sharma, Chandigarh
Fix responsibility
Last week, in addition to periphery areas such as Zirkpur, Mullanpur, Khuda Lahora, almost the entire tricity was inundated. Unfortunately, this chronic issue which is wreaks havoc every year does not seem to get the attention of policy makers. Due to lack of regular maintenance of stormwater drains, it monsoon, residents are left high and dry. The need of the hour is to fix the responsibility of the person (s) concerned.
SK Khosla, Chandigarh
Rainwater harvesting, natural drainage system
The monsoon rain brings both pleasure and pain. We enjoy the rain as it brings a huge relief from the summer heat. But just after a brief spell of rain, we see waterlogged roads and drains, causing a lot of pain to all of us. The poor drainage system is to be blamed for inundated houses and roads in the city and its outskirts. Civil engineering work on the roads is also faulty as water gets accumulated on the roads. Proper designing of the lanes and bylanes in the periphery is needed for rainwater management. We need rainwater harvesting schemes in the city and surrounding areas. Very often, the natural drainage in an area, along with good water management, is sufficient to eliminate excess water and preclude the need for expensive subsurface drainage systems.
Anil Kumar Yadav, Chandigarh
Advanced and modern drainage system
Clogged, flooded and sinking are the words one needs to describe Zirakpur during rains. A city that is fast developing with high-rise buildings needs a good drainage system to avoid such a system. Moreover, adjoining rivulets should be desilted and cleaned to ease the flow. Other additional measures should be taken to ease the flow of the rivers. To prevent flooding, embankments should also be constructed along the river. Plastic also chokes and clogs the drains. Therefore, throwing plastic into the drains should be completely prohibited. Drainage lines should also be cleaned on a regular basis. An advanced and modern drainage system should be put into place. Instead of having paved tiles everywhere, there should be some grounds with soil to help absorb the water.
Saikrit Gulati, Chandigarh
Lack of peripheral control
Despite the many merits, our beautiful city has often been plagued by lack of peripheral control. Following are a few suggestions to improve the same: There needs to be a constitutional body with representatives from Chandigarh UT, Punjab, Haryana to decide on the overall planning. Prepare a GIS- based physical planning model with special emphasis on natural slopes and drainage, and draft bylaws accordingly. GIS-backed water management plans be chalked out with a network of small reservoirs for proper channeling of water. All new development projects often neglect factors such as natural drainage, in order to achieve more and more sq.ft of built area. Strict implementation of site development guidelines should be ensured, and heavy penalties should be levied on developers flouting these.
Kamal Passi, via email
It’s nature hitting back!
The havoc let loose by rainwater is result of man-made blockages due to illegal construction that get regularised over the years under political patronage and money power. Silt-free wider stormwater drains are an insurance to avert recurring devastation by waterlogging in residential areas and submerged potholed roads. A suo motu strict intervention by the NGT and superior courts can undo all construction in illegal colonies coming up in violation of notified master plans in different areas. Water is life but fury of uncontrolled water threatens life and property alike.
Lalit Bharadwaj, Panchkula
Cleanliness and regular checks
There should be regular maintenance checks by the authorities to decrease the scope of flooding. Cleanliness is a must if flooding takes place as people can get infected with various diseases due to waterlogging. Construction of dams and reservoires should be properly planned and should be regularly inspected.
Ishita Nara, via email
Streamline procedures for licensed projects, illegal colonies
The root cause for mushrooming illegal colonies and construction violations in Chandigarh’s periphery is the failure of multiple authorities to ensure enforcement of the notified Master Plans and the Punjab Apartment & Property Regulation Act, 1995. As a long term solution, the state government, through a task force, should take steps to review the licensing policies. As for already regularised colonies, the authorities must ensure upgrade of infrastructure and drainage system.
Hardaman Singh Bhogal, Mohali
Identify problem areas, take corrective measures
Handling nature’s fury is a challenging task but routine problem being faced every year can be managed if the administration takes up the matter seriously. If possible the experts of the engineering wing should identify the areas prone to waterlogging during monsoon season and dig safe boreholes on nearby vacant land to divert extra water into them through underground channels and save it for use after treatment. Undoubtedly, the process will also help to recharge the groundwater levels.
Surinder Paul Wadhwa, Mohali
Re-design drainage system
Mushrooming of unauthorised colonies, faulty levelling of roads, unplanned stormwater drainage cannot happen without the consent of authorities. Responsibility must be fixed and measures should be taken to ensure residents don’t face such a problem. At the outset, all housing societies and colonies must have well-designed rain harvesting system. Secondly, levelling of roads and plinth levels of houses should not be considered in isolation and must be done for the complete area. Last and not the least, stormwater drainage must be redesigned.
Sqn Ldr Manjit Singh Johar (retd), Chandigarh
Reader of the week:
Check haphazard construction
Unauthorised and haphazard development needs to be stopped. Authorities also need to think of creating a robust system for unobstructed and free surface runoff as per natural slopes leading rainwater to rivulets and choes to avoid urban flooding. A drainage plan as per natural topography should be drawn for Zirakpur to implement long-term and short-term measures. Floodable areas along rivulets, choes and Ghaggar river should be identified and notified under ‘The Canal and Drainage Act’. No development should be allowed in the notified floodable zones, and in the already developed areas, obstructions and encroachments should be removed. Apart from that, rainwater harvesting should be made mandatory for each property.
MS Aujla, via email
What experts say:
Clean up!
Congress is responsible for waterlogging as they failed to clean the drains and choes for four years. They didn’t even lay any new drainage pipe in Zirakpur. There won’t be any waterlogging if natural choes are cleaned properly.
NK Sharma, Dera Bassi, MLA
Stormwater drainage
Zirakpur is an old town, which has no stormwater drainage system. But now with new technology, authorities can come up with an integrated master plan so as to solve the problem of waterlogging. Also, the natural choes must be cleaned regularly.
Devinder Singh, GMADA chief engineer
Rainwater recharge system
Even though Zirakpur MC is collecting crores on the account of external development charges (EDC), it has completely failed to develop infrastructure. We suggest the authorities come with rainwater recharge system to replenish groundwater.
Harish Gupta, president of the Zirakpur Builders Association
Man-made barriers
Authorities should deal with people carving out illegal plots on river banks as it blocks the flow of river water and causes flooding even after light rain. An illegal bridge has been constructed in Shiv Nagar panchayat, which slows down the flow of the water as the pipes used are not of proper dimensions.
Kulbir Singh Bisht, Nayagaon MC councillor
Damaged roads
Roads get damaged due to movement of heavy vehicles and this in turn leads to waterlogging.
Repair and maintenance of roads should be the responsibility of mega project developers. They should also ensure drains are cleaned so that water does not stagnate.
Ranjit Uppal, general secretary Omaxe Cassia Residents Welfare Association (OCRWA), Mullanpur