With the water level of Chandigarh’s Sukhna Lake crossing the danger mark of 1,163 feet, the Chandigarh Administration on Monday opened two floodgates of the man-made water body.
Before this, it was in the year 2008 when flood gates of the lake were opened after the water level had crossed 1163 feet. Till September 22, the water level was 1,162 feet and had witnessed further rise on Monday after heavy rainfall in the past two days.
The water will be drained out to seasonal river Sukhna choe, which passes through the industrial area of Chandigarh.
“The water gates of Sukhna Lake were opened on Monday after a decade as the water level crossed over the danger mark due to the heavy rain in the catchment area. It is after 10 years that the water level in the reservoir has reached its highest level mark of 1,163 feet,” said a spokesperson of UT Administration.
“The Engineering Department is constantly watching the water level and once it decreases, the gates are likely to be closed again on Monday night. The Chandigarh Administration had issued a warning-cum-advisory before opening the gates,” the spokesperson said.
The UT Administration also informed the officials of the neighbouring States — Punjab and Haryana — about the water level.
Chandigarh Traffic Police also issued advisory stating that people traveling from Sector 26 backside of Sukhna Lake to Kishangarh side should take alternate route and be careful. The Sukhna Lake was built in 1958 across Sukhna Choe and was conceived as a place of relaxation, seclusion and sport. The rain-fed lake was formed by harnessing Kansal, Ghareri and Nepali choes.
Sukhna Lake, the city’s main tourist attraction had witnessed water crisis, two-three years back. Also in 2012, over half of the area of rain-fed Lake had run dry in summer.
Meanwhile, due to incessant rains in the past three days in Chandigarh, the UT Administration has directed the disaster management team to remain on vigil and monitor the situation constantly.
In view of heavy rainfall, Arun Kumar Gupta, UT Home Secretary on Monday held a review meeting to assess the situation. The meeting was attended by the Secretary Education, SSP Chandigarh, SSP Security & Traffic, Chief Engineer, UT Administration Chandigarh and Chief Engineer, Municipal Corporation among others.
It was informed in the meeting that as per the weather forecast by the National Weather Forecasting Centre, there will be a significant reduction in rainfall from Monday onwards in the tricity.
A detailed review was done regarding the precautionary measures taken by various departments to keep track of the situation.
The Engineering Depar-tment of Administration and Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh were given directions to tackle the problem of potholes, water logging and trees that have fallen on urgent basis, the spokesperson said.
The Police Department was instructed to deploy more police personnels to regulate traffic lights and manage high volume of traffic during peak hours and during heavy rains, the spokesperson added.
Earlier in the day on Monday, the Chandigarh Administration had issued an advisory stating that due to heavy rain, parents are advised not to send their children to schools in the afternoon shift.
Traffic jams were seen in Chandigarh at the Hallomajra chowk, Sector 26 transport area road that leads to Manimajra and Zirakpur road. Waterlogging was also reported near Sector 21, 49, 45 and near roundabouts in various sectors of the city.
