Chandigarh: What was meant to bring the much-needed relief from the scorching heat spelt unending trouble for the city. Many areas were inundated as the first rain of the monsoon season lashed Chandigarh Saturday night, and continued well into the next day. It also exposed the monsoon readiness claims of the municipal corporation and the Chandigarh administration. The low-lying areas of the southern part of the city were the worst-hit, with multiple teams from the engineering departments swinging into action to drain out the water accumulated on the roads and adjoining areas. MC deployed 18 teams across the city to deal with waterlogging problems.Among the badly affected stretches in the southern part were the underpass of Industrial Area, Phase-1, residential areas of Sector 38, the area along the interstate bus terminus (ISBT) in Sector 43, the commercial and residential zones of Sector 35, the road dividing sectors 36/37, parts of sector 29 and 37.Owing to severe waterlogging, the authorities had to shut the underpass of the Industrial Area, Phase-1, and divert the traffic from that route. Since it sees heavy traffic on any given day, commuters faced major problems. A car broke down in the waterlogged underpass, and the authorities had to deploy a crane to bring it out.Commuters were also greatly inconvenienced along the ISBT in Sector 43 as buses and other public vehicles got half-submerged in water. Despite it being a recurring problem in the area, the residents said authorities did precious little to find a permanent solution to it.In Sector 38, water gushed into homes, damaging household articles. The residents spent a sleepless night draining out buckets and buckets of water.In Sector 26, since tertiary treated (TT) water supply pipelines are being laid by MC’s engineering department, the area was naturally affected by the rain. Some vehicles got stuck in the stagnant water there and even broke down. They had to be lifted out.
