While the Municipal Corporation (MC) claims that over 85 per cent of the road gullies in the city’s stormwater drainage system have been cleaned ahead of monsoon, the ground reality appears to be different.
A visit to various parts of the city found several road gullies either clogged or without covers, posing a serious safety hazard. In many locations, the covers are broken or missing, turning the gullies into potential death traps during rain.
In Sector 48, several road gullies were found without covers. Randhir Singh, a local resident, said the gullies had remained neglected for nearly a year.
“The covers are either broken or missing. During heavy rain, these open gullies become extremely dangerous,” he said.
He added that neither proper repairs nor adequate cleaning had been carried out before monsoon. Last year, the open-air theatre in Sector 48 was inundated during the rainy season, and no additional drainage infrastructure has been created to prevent a repeat of the situation this year, he said.
A road gully near the PGI roundabout was found badly damaged, while another on the Sector 14-15 road was completely blocked. Several gullies in Sectors 19, 25 and 27 were found blocked with garbage. In Sector 29, rainwater had accumulated around a clogged gully.
Traders in the Sector 22-B market said work on a new stormwater drainage system, which began about two months ago, was still incomplete. Sanjeev Chadha, president of the Chandigarh Beopar Mandal, said the market was unprepared for monsoon.
“The work on the road gullies is still incomplete. Traders will face major problems during the rains as there is no proper drainage system. Even the first spell of monsoon rain yesterday created chaos for traders and visitors,” he said.
Road gullies in Sector 17 were also found damaged at several places. The parking area near the post office experiences waterlogging every time it rains, said local shopkeepers.
The city has a total of 30,453 road gullies. The MC had set June 30 as the deadline to clean all gullies before the onset of monsoon. However, officials said only 25,103 gullies had been cleaned so far.
Hitseh Puri, chairman of the Chandigarh Residents Association Welfare Federation (CRAWFED), said the MC must find a permanent solution to the city’s recurring waterlogging problem.
“The stormwater drainage system is decades old and needs to be upgraded,” he said. Meanwhile, the MC has identified several waterlogging-prone locations, including the Sector 7 Sports Complex, Sector 4-9 road, Industrial Area underpass, iron market in Sector 29, Palika Bazaar in Sector 19, Sector 18-19 roundabout and the Sector 11-15 underpass. Waterlogging was also reported from Indira Colony in Manimajra. Residents have urged the UT Administration to repair damaged roads and implement permanent measures to address the recurring problem.
Meanwhile, Municipal Commissioner Amit Kumar said the MC had deployed 18 teams and set up seven control rooms to handle rain-related complaints. Dedicated staff had been stationed at identified waterlogging-prone spots.
He said directions had been issued to the officials concerned to complete the cleaning of the remaining road gullies without further delay.
