Municipal Corporation review city’s condition after incessant rain

LUDHIANA: A day after the incessant rainfall, the officials from Ludhiana municipal corporation and Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT) remained on toes on Sunday for reviewing the situation whether rain has damaged anything. The MC officials visited various areas and sewerage treatment plants as well as Buddha Nullah. The officials of LIT visited the city centre site in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar.In 2012, too roads adjoining city centre site had washed away completely during heavy rainfall at similar location.
Meanwhile, there was caving of road at two locations in Ghumar Mandi which was rectified by the civic officials. One crater was near Aarti Chowk and other one was inside the market. Being a holiday, there was not a major rush in the market and officials were able to fill the caved-in portions.
The officials claimed that the situation was under control and there was not much damage to the land near city centre. The superintending engineer of LIT, Rakesh Garg said during checking they found minor damage to the boundaries of city centre site because there is no retaining wall there. He said they have filled the gaps which were created due to the heavy rainfall.
On August 12, 2011, too heavy rainfall had damaged roads badly from three sides around city centre and some portions of the road had washed away completely. Some of the houses had also come in danger. The situation was under control in areas like Rishi Nagar and Rajguru Nagar.
Similarly, civic officials visited the main areas where waterlogging had created major issue and also checked whether STPs were functioning. On Saturday night, the officials sat in the control room near Daresi for attending emergency calls.
The superintending engineer of operation and maintenance cell, Rajinder Singh said, “We were in field on Saturday as well but there was heavy to moderate rainfall all throughout the day so it was difficult to check the damage. On Sunday, we checked whether there was any damage due to rainfall in any of the areas and rain water was drained out with the help of employees.” He said they would remain on toes till Monday as alert is issued for the next three days.
BJP complains of defunct street lights
The BJP district vice president Parminder Mehta condemned the civic officials for their failure in repairing street lights. He said on Saturday night, street lights were not functional in many areas creating problems for commuters. He demanded that officials should pay attention towards the maintenance of street lights, especially when roads are full of potholes and darkness can lead to accidents.