Monsoon is back and so is the fear of gushing rainwater that entered the Tricity homes last August. The civic authorities did little in one year to prevent another flooding of last monsoon’s worst-affected spots. So, just pray.
A TOI team that visited nine of those points in Chandigarh, Mohali,
Panchkula, and Zirakpur found flaws in the flood-control arrangements and no hope of much relief to the residents.
Many slips at UT road gullies
All the muck cleared from the road gullies of Sectors 8, 15, 17, 21, 35, and 44 but not lifted, and all the construction waste from the laying of bicycle tracks is going to flush into the drains when it rains. A slip road in Sector 17 still has no road gully to drain rainwater. The gullies on the JW Marriott roundabout of Sectors 21, 22, 34, and 35 are again choked after the last spell of rain, while those on the roundabout of Sectors 34, 35, 43, and 44 lie broken. Sector-17 municipal councillor Ravi Kant said: “The bicycle tracks project should have halted for the rainy season.” Sector 35 councillor Ravinder Kaur said: “My special efforts to clean the road gullies have gone down the drain.”
Sleepless in Mohali
Parminder Singh of Phase 3B-2 says he has spent two sleepless nights worrying about last-year-like water accumulation in the area. “The stormwater pipe laid two years ago has flawed design,” said area councillor Kulbir Singh Bedi. During overnight rain two days ago, people woke up to shift their vehicles away from homes, lest they incur hefty engine-repair bills like last monsoon. Many people moved even their furniture to the first floor. The MC is yet to repair a boundary wall that collapsed last year. The backup pump installed in the area is inaccessible.
Zirakpur’s drain pain
Near Singhpura,
Patiala Chowk, and Baltana in Zirakpur, road gullies are the way these have been for 10 years. Singhpura traffic junction stays clogged since the drain is too small to clear the storm water in time. During last rain, the road from K Area to the Baltana flyover opposite Kalgidhar Enclave went under 2 feet of water.
Panchkula flush with worry
At Sector 19, Panchkula, the 10-foot-wide stormwater pipes of this low-lying area on the Baltana border weren't replaced, though the width should be 100 feet. “Every monsoon, my house gets flooded,” Manmohan Kalia of Sector 19 said.
