Ludhiana roads sink after heavy rain
Traffic chaos was seen on major Ludhiana roads, while water logging also returned to residential areas
Incessant rain starting from Saturday morning left most of the city roads flooded a day after the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) had issued a yellow alert for different districts across the state.
The city witnessed 43mm rain till Saturday evening, which brought the month’s total figure to 100mm till September 24. The average rain witnessed in September is 110mm.
As per latest data, cloudy weather conditions are expected to prevail on Sunday as well. Speaking of the same, Punjab Agricultural University’s (PAU), assistant agro meteorologist, KK Gill said cloudy weather is expected to prevail in the city on Sunday as well, with weather expected to clear up after that.
Water logging woes return
Commuters faced the brunt of the heavy rainfall, which left some of the city’s major roads flooded. The problem of waterlogging was also witnessed in the residential areas and markets. Ferozepur road, BRS Nagar, Janta Nagar, Chandigarh road, Sarabha Nagar, Gill road, Dugri, Model Town extension were among some of the worst-affected areas.
Speaking of the public’s woes, Charanjit Singh, a Sarabha Nagar resident, said water logging had become a major issue even in the posh residential areas of the city, adding, “It now becomes difficult to even step out of the houses due to water-logging on the main road leading to block-H of Sarabha Nagar.”
Movement of traffic hit severely
Movement of traffic, which has already been hit because of ongoing developmental projects on Ferozepur road, Bharat Nagar Chowk and Pakhowal road, was adversely affected by waterlogging and traffic jams were witnessed city-wide. A number of vehicles also developed faults as water entered their systems.
A model Town extension, Daljit Singh, said the flooded streets, recent road cave-ins have turned the city roads into a nightmare for the commuters, adding, “The authorities should find a solution to the growing problem as we, as residents, are scared of commuting on the city roads now.”
The municipal corporation (MC) superintending engineer Ravinder Garg, meanwhile, said waterlogging was witnessed due to incessant rain. He, however, was quick to add that accumulated water was drained out in a short period by civic body teams who have been working towards keeping the sewer lines and drain clean.
Cave-in repairs hit
The showers also affected the repair work being carried out in the wake of the recent road cave-in site near Shastri Nagar railway crossing. Civic body officials said the work could only resume after the rain stops completely.
Earlier on September 21, a major portion of the road caved-in near the railway crossing. It was the second incident in the last nine days and the authorities stated that it will take at least a week to repair the damaged portion of the decades old brick sewer line which caused the incident.