Cars drown, water reaches 1st floor: Residents of Dera Bassi housing society face tough time

Most of the occupants of 1,000 were present in their homes as it was Sunday. The residents made distressed calls, following which a team of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) was deployed, which carried rescue efforts with rafts and ladders.

Deputy Commissioner Aashika Jain, who visited the society along with her team, said that the rear side of this residential colony with about 1000 flats is adjacent to Ghaggar river and is relatively low-lying geographically.

“Today, when the flow of water in Ghaggar increased, the water broke the wall of Gulmohar City Extension and entered inside. As a result, not only the basement was submerged, but the first floor was also flooded,” she added.
Jain said that the water level of about 8 to 10 feet created an atmosphere of panic among the residents of colony and distress calls for immediate rescue started pouring in to the administration.

ADC (G) Paramdeep Singh was asked to coordinate with the team of NDRF and ADC (Urban Development) Damandeep Singh Mann through the municipal council teams to send bulldozers and evacuation pumps.

The deputy commissioner added that if the rescue operation was delayed a little more and the breach in the wall was not plugged on the spot, there was a fear of loss of life and property at this place.

Jain further said that residents of 200 to 300 affected flats and were rescued and were delivered breakfast via boats. Three boats were pressed into this relief operation.

About the breach, the DC said that it was successfully plugged and the water accumulated in Gulmohar City was taken out by breaking the wall from another place, which brought the water level down. She said that the pumps operated by the municipal council team for water extraction also proved to be helpful in receding the flooded water.