Gaurav Kanthwal

Tribune News Service

Zirakpur, June 22

The drainage department of the Mohali Administration has begun the cleaning work of Sukhna Choe in Baltana after the UT Engineering Department wrote to the authorities concerned to clean the choe to avoid a repeat of the last year’s flooding.

Dera Bassi SDM Kuldeep Bawa said, “The drainage department is carrying out the work and it will be completed before the rainy season peaks.”

The cleaning work started on Friday. The UT Engineering Department officials said the cleaning of the choe in the city was nearly complete and if the cleaning work was not taken up in the Baltana area, it could lead to flooding of the area.

On August 23 last year, the excess water released from Sukhna Lake caused havoc in Baltana and other parts of Zirakpur. Around 5 am, the water came gushing into the Baltana, partially submerging a police post, marriage palaces, a municipal park, dairies and the cremation ground.

Experts said neglecting the cleaning of Sukhna Choe and unauthorised constructions were the cause for flooding.

Questions were also raised about the drain made by the municipal council at a level higher than that of the road, disrupting the natural gradient.