Residents put their clothes to dry outside their houses in Phase 5, Mohali, on Tuesday. (Express Photo)
A day after three-hour downpour paralysed Mohali, Tuesday witnessed dawn of the aftermath. In Phase 5, where water entered several houses, the situation was alarming. There was no drinking water and residents had to go to bed hungry as they were unable to cook in their kitchen. But they couldn’t get any sleep as the mattresses were all wet.
Talking about the situation, Tarsem Lal, a resident, said that water was still present inside several houses and people were unable to go to work on Tuesday. With the city under the grip of vector-borne diseases, residents have urged the Municipal Corporation (MC) and the health department to carry out fogging in the area to stop mosquitoes from breeding in the water and prevent the spread of vector-borne diseases. The residents also met the Deputy Commissioner (DC) Gurpreet Kaur Sapra and demanded compensation for the damages. They said that the DC listened to their problems, but said that she could only visit the areas after August 25 as she is busy in making arrangements for maintaining law and order in the city.
“Some of my neighbours provided food to those who could not cook in their kitchen. Everybody has put out their clothes and mattresses for drying outside their houses. Our houses are stinking,thus making it impossible to sit inside,” said Balbir Singh, a resident. The residents also met the Deputy Commissioner (DC) Gurpreet Kaur Sapra and demanded compensation for the damages. They said that the DC listened to their problems, but said that she could only visit the areas after August 25 as she is busy in making arrangements for maintaining law and order in the city. Neelam Sharma, another resident of the locality said that there was no supply of drinking water on Tuesday and residents had to remain without water till afternoon. She also said that important documents of many people were damaged in the water.
Monday’s heavy downpour has not only got the residents worried, but the administration as well. Mayor Kulwant Singh stated that an emergency meeting of all the engineers and other concerned officers have been called to discuss the issue. The mayor said that they will get a fresh survey done of the drainage systems at airport road and Phase 5 so that problems could be identified and fixed accordingly. Councillor Arun Sharma said that they have urged the MC to start fogging in the area. He said that as water has accumulated in some of the houses there is a danger that dengue and malaria may spread. He added that the DC had assured them to fast-track the fogging process.
Meanwhile, the teams of MC engineers also inspected various sites which were waterlogged. The sources in the MC said that the teams inspected the storm water drains on the airport road which was badly hit by the rain. On the otherhand, the motor market saw heavy rush as many people arrived there to get their vehicles repaired.
