Kanpur: The season’s first major monsoon downpour lashed Kanpur on Friday, dumping 99.8 mm of rain in barely two-and-a-half hours and exposing the Kanpur Municipal Corporation’s claims of cleaning and desilting drains and nullahs. While the showers brought much-needed relief from the scorching heat, they also triggered widespread waterlogging, traffic chaos, road cave-ins and wall collapses across the city, disrupting normal life. Fortunately, no casualties were reported.The rain began shortly after midnight, but the heaviest spell occurred between 6 am and 7.30 am. According to the CSA weather observatory, the city recorded 99.8 mm of rainfall, while the India Meteorological Department (IMD) had forecast heavy rain in the region a day earlier.The rainfall began as a light drizzle before intensifying into heavy showers accompanied by thunderstorms for nearly two hours. Moderate rain resumed around 5 pm, adding to the waterlogging in several localities.Choked drains and silted nullahs caused rainwater to overflow onto roads, severely disrupting normal life. Major roads in Kanpur South, Birhana Road, Mall Road, Bara Chauraha, and the premises of Ursula Horsman Memorial (UHM) Hospital and Lala Lajpat Rai (LLR) Hospital were inundated.Several localities, including Nandlal Crossing, Chawla Market Crossing, Saket Nagar, Durga Mandir Road, Lenin Park, Gandhi Nagar, Ram Bagh and Ashok Nagar, remained submerged for hours, with residents virtually marooned.The notorious Sisamau Nullah overflowed once again, inundating large parts of VIP Road, Gwaltoli and Ahirana. Residents alleged that nullah water entered several houses in Gwaltoli. In Kalyanpur, blocked drains turned roads into virtual canals.The entrances to LLR and UHM hospitals were flooded, forcing patients and attendants to wade through knee-deep water. The Juhi Railway Underbridge, notorious for waterlogging during the monsoon, was once again submerged in rain and sewer water, prompting police to barricade both ends and suspend vehicular movement as a precaution.Traffic was severely affected across the city, with long snarls reported from several areas. At many places, two-wheelers stalled in waterlogged stretches, forcing commuters to push their vehicles manually.Heavy rain also led to two wall-collapse incidents. A wall near Bhargava Trust in MacRobert Ganj collapsed, damaging several parked vehicles, while another wall of the Ordnance Equipment Factory (OEF) near Phool Bagh caved in. No injuries were reported in either incident.In Kakadeo, a portion of an apartment building collapsed following the heavy rain. Local residents, along with the administration, safely rescued around 50 people from the building.BJP MLA Surendra Maithani visited several affected areas during the afternoon. At Deoki Talkies Crossing, he warned Metro officials to resolve the persistent waterlogging problem within seven days, failing which he would “uproot the Metro structure” allegedly obstructing drainage.Metro officials assured the MLA that corrective measures would be taken at the earliest. However, Maithani said he would personally monitor the progress of the work on a daily basis.During his visit to Gadarian Purwa, the MLA found rainwater had entered shops and houses because a drainage pipeline was missing along a 10-12 metre stretch. Calling it official negligence, he directed the immediate laying of the pipeline and sought action against the officials responsible.
