Monsoon showers lashed the city,bringing people much-needed relief from the past few days sultry weather. The city received 18 mm of rainfall in the past 24 hours. The MET department has forecast widespread rainfall in Punjab,Haryana and Chandigarh for the next two days. Like every year,the perennial waterlogging problems have returned with monsoons this year. In many areas of the city,huge pools of water had formed on the roads. Commuters,especially the ones on two-wheelers had a harrowing time crossing these huge pools,especially in the morning. The causes of water logging were the lack of proper outlet for rain water and choked drains. The city has so far received 268.8 mm of rainfall in June and July. During the same period last year,the city had received 487.5 mm rainfall. Last year,in the first half of July,the city had received 299.1 mm rainfall. This year,in July,the city has only received only 29.1 mm rainfall. When asked about the situation of monsoons,Surinder Paul,Director,Meteorological Department,Chandigarh said,Chandigarh,Haryana and Punjab have received normal rainfall till now and even in the coming days widespread rains are expected in these areas. Paul added that the MET department was in the process of setting up four automatic rain gauge systems in every district of Punjab and Haryana at the tehsil level,to monitor rainfall minutely. All the sites have been finalised and installations are due to start in the coming months. These systems will help to measure the rain,temperature and humidity in the particular area,help in crop insurance and maintaining database. These stations will improve the overall efficiency of the department, added Surinder Paul.
