People take day off to put houses in order in Mohali

Mohali: A day after heavy downpour lashed the Tricity, Tuesday was a hectic day for Mohali residents as they spent hours draining out water from their houses.
Residents were busy wringing water out of their wet cushions and sofa sets, besides keeping beds, dining tables and other furniture which went under water on Monday for drying.
Residents first shifted their valuable articles and other household items to dry rooms or on balconies on the first floor and waited for the sun to show up.The worst-affected areas were Phase 5, Phase 7, Phase 2, Phase 1 and Madanpura where rainwater had entered over 100 houses. Several residents had to seek fire department’s help to drain out water.
Kulwant Kaur, a resident of Phase 5, said, “We were not able to cook food, nor sleep the entire day. We had to spend the day and night to drain out water from the house. In 24 hours, we just ate once and no one was able to attend the school or offices or go anywhere else. We busy trying to save the household items.”
Residents blamed the administration for the damage, saying that waterlogging happens every year. Vehicles, gadgets, electronic items, furniture, clothes and every other household item were damaged.
If they MMC or GMADA had done some job, this would have never happened, said most of the residents from Mohali.
Arun Sharma, another resident of Phase 5, said, “The rain damaged everything in the houses. In some of the houses in low-lying areas, water reached up to cupboards. Every house suffered damages worth lakhs of rupees.”
Sumit Verma, a resident of phase 2, said, “The authorities should have prepared to deal with such a situation as they know that heavy rain in Mohali is always brings trouble for residents. My TV, sofa and beds were damaged. Some of the items even floated out of the house. We were afraid that insects like snakes or other things might have entered houses and there was always the threat of electrocution.”
It is pertinent to mention here that the drainage system in Mohali is four-decade-old and since then nothing has changed in view of increase in population.
A Phase 2 resident, Jasbir Singh said, “My house was almost drowned. I have to take leave of at least six days to revamp my house again. I can’t let my wife and kids do everything on their own. My kids are not going to school because of the negligence of the authorities.”