JMC fails to ensure proper drainage
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, July 29: Flash flood triggered by heavy rainfall this morning caused damage to the shops and a petrol pump at Vijay Chowk in Bantalab area near here thereby exposing the tall claims of Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC).
Locals of the area informed that a Nallah in the area blocked for years overflew and the water gushed on road and then entered the shops and a petrol pump in the area taking all the silt and stones with it.
They also said that even after the rain stopped the Bantalab road remained waterlogged for some hours.
Eyewitnesses informed that the rainfall left a lot of silt and stones at the petrol pump.
Some of the shopkeepers informed that they repeatedly called JMC for clearing the silt which the flood had left on road and near their shops but none attended their calls.
“After the rain stopped we brought some labourers to clear the silt at the petrol pump so that the customers may easily visit the place to fill oil in their vehicles,” Mohan Lal-Manager at the petrol pump said.
Sitting outside his automobile spare-parts shop, Ajay Sharma said a lot of water and silt entered his shop and damaged some helmets kept on the floor.
“I cleaned the silt and while doing so I noticed a snake which possibly entered the shop with flood water and now I am waiting for the serpent to leave the shop,” he informed adding that a concrete platform outside his shop was also washed away in the gushing water.
Similar was the woes of Ganesh who works at a nearby wine shop.
He claimed that some liquor bottles in his shop broke after the overflowing water from the Nallah entered his shop.
More shopkeepers said, had JMC taken preventive measures well in advance of the rainy season and had ensured proper drainage system in the area, the flood due to overflow by the Nallah would be prevented.
The affected shopkeepers said that already they were suffering losses due to the ongoing lockdown clamped to contain COVID-19 pandemic but now the rainfall has further increased their losses miseries as many things in their shops have been damaged.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
