Monsoon closing in, but MC only halfway through clearing drains

The MC is tasked with cleaning 30,452 road gullies and stormwater drains; however, only 13,500 gullies have been cleaned so far

- Mandeep Kaur Narula

CHANDIGARH: With early signs of monsoon looming large, the Chandigarh municipal corporation (MC) has ramped up its preparedness efforts to meet the challenge of waterlogging. As of Monday, only 45% work for cleaning road gullies and stormwater drains across the city has been completed, prompting officials to speed up the process and deploy rapid response teams across all divisions.

As per India Meteorological Department officials, monsoon usually arrives in the city in the last week of June. However, this time, it is expected to reach the city a week earlier. Some regions of the country have already witnessed the early onset of monsoon, including Kerala, Lakshadweep, and parts of Karnataka, Mizoram and Maharashtra.