July rain breaks record, second highest ever in Chandigarh

Sandeep Rana

Chandigarh, July 31

The city recorded 52.4-mm rainfall today, taking the total rainfall this month to 525.7mm, the second highest rainfall in the city ever.

According to the airport observatory, 602.1-mm rainfall reported in 1994 is the all-time high for July.

The Chandigarh IMD observatory in Sector 39 started maintaining the data from 2011 onwards. The airport observatory has the rainfall data of period prior to 2011. July 2000 saw 442.1-mm rainfall, followed by 411.1 mm in 2005 and 406.5 mm in 2010.

The normal rainfall in July is 275.6 mm, which is the average rainfall of the past 30 years.

“This time monsoon has remained extreme. There were hardly any dry days. Westerns disturbances also remained very active. Overall, the North had witnessed heavy rains,” said Met Director Manmohan Singh.

“Rain is likely in next three days, but from August 4 onwards, monsoon will intensify,” he added. Meanwhile, several areas, including the old Labour Chowk-ITI light point road, ISBT Sector 17 Chowk towards Himalaya Marg and the Kalibari light point, Centra Mall light point and the Government Press light point, witnessed severe waterlogging.

Trees uprooted

Due to the heavy rain, trees fell at several places, including councillor Damanpreet Singh’s house at Sector 22. “It was a green tree and seemed healthy. Fortunately, there was no damage. We request the MC to remove dead trees in my ward for which we had filed a complaint,” said the AAP councillor. Another tree fell down on the road alongside the PU south campus.

Floodgates opened, 2nd time this month

For the second time this July, the UT Administration had to open the floodgates of the Sukhna Lake on Sunday after the water level reached 1162.7 feet in the afternoon. The danger mark is 1,163 feet. Earlier on July 17, the administration opened the floodgates after the water level reached 1,162.54 feet.

Faidan bridge damaged

The heavy rain caused damage to the Faidan bridge. A public toilet and a shop were also damaged. Local councillor Jasbir Singh said, “I have asked the MC to repair the bridge with ward development fund. However, the officials said these funds cannot be used for such kind of works.”