Chandigarh at sea: MC’s tall claims go down drain

CHANDIGARH: The 18.6mm rain that lashed the city on Thursday submerged most of its roads, washing away the tall claims of the municipal corporation of cleaning stormwater drainage system.
Stuck in deep waters, many vehicles broke down and the rescue teams’ reaction time was poor. The worst-affected were sectors 26, 47, 8, 9, Industrial Area and villages in the periphery, where low-lying areas were flooded.
After a couple of hours of downpour, Chandigarh roads turned into rivers.Residents called up the fire brigade to pull out their stuck cars and also to pump out water from streets and their houses. Many were seen locked inside their cars that had broken down in the middle of waterlogged roads.
It was a harrowing time for two residents, who were stranded when their vehicles stopped while they were negotiating an inundated road near Police Lines. No one came to their rescue for over an hour. Maj Jairam Tanwar of Panchkula and Sukhvinder Singh of Sector 47 alleged that they were directed by the UT cops towards that section of the road without any warning of heavy waterlogging. Their vehicles, Hyundai Creta and Tata Safari, were jammed near Police Lines in Sector 26.
They said, “We were directed by the UT police towards the grain market side as the road to Sector 26 was closed due to school timings. We were not cautioned that water on this road was deep. We got stuck around 1.20pm, and for over an hour no one came to our rescue.”
Around 2.50pm, a rescue team arrived at the spot with a recovery van and the two stranded cars were pulled out.
In Industrial Area Phase-I, a car was completely submerged at the railway underpass. Fire brigade men pulled it out.
In sectors 47 and 8, the situation was worse as MC’s dug-up roads turned into puddle traps. In Sector 8 parking, sewer lines were laid six months ago, but the trench was not repaired. A few hours’ rain turned it into a trap in which four cars got stuck. Recovery vans were called to pull them out.