VADODARA, Sept 17: Torrential rains badly disrupted life in the city for the third consecutive day, with several low-lying areas going under water. The railway station under-bridge - the main route between the western and eastern parts of the city - too, was flooded with waist-deep water for the third consecutive day.Utter chaos was witnessed on the Alembic overbridge, with traffic jams extending up to the Fatehgunj telephone exchange and Race Course on either side. In other parts of the city, schools and other private and government institutes recorded low attendance.More than 3,000 telephones in the city have been rendered inoperative following cable faults triggered by incessant rains. Well-placed sources in the Telecom department told Express Newsline that a majority of the faults had been detected in the Lalbaug, Panigate and Nizampura areas in the city over the last two days.``Around 25 officials from the City Exchange, including the entire staff of the Pulse Code Modulator (PCM) unit, have been working round-the-clock to repair the faults, though complaints are still pouring in'', said a department official.He added that while services had been partially affected in the rural areas, Dabhoi and Sankheda exchanges had experienced a major snag on Wednesday disrupting almost all lines there. He, however, added that the problem had been attended do immediately.Vadodara Telecom District General Manager Rakesh Babu, however, claimed that all was well with the services ``except a minor cable fault in near the Railway Staff College on Tuesday which we have attended to today''.Meanwhile, while official agencies maintained that best possible help was given to the rain-affected at various points in the Gorwa and Sayajigunj localities, evacuees dismissed it as a mere formality and ``insincere''.During a spot visit, Narayan Marwari, Vijay Rathod, Santosh Dube, Mohammad Lariwala, Muni Beghum and Sushilaben told Express Newsline that food packets were supplied only once a day and that there had not been any medical help. They hadn't even received chlorine tablets, they said.``Not all the affected persons are being covered by the visiting officials and the NGOs'', said an old man, adding that though many of them had been running a fever for the past couple of days, no help was at hand.Others, however, expressed appreciation of the efforts of a Sayajigunj-based social forum and a religious trust at Gorwa.District Collector Anil Mukim and Municipal Commissioner G R Aloria, however, told Express Newsline that along with some NGOs, they were providing the best possible services, along with health care. ``Complaints, if any, will be looked into'', they added.Meanwhile, District Supply Officer Ashok Singh said all the fair price shops in the district had adequate stocks of essential commodities, including kerosene and sugar, and that there was no disruption in their supply. About the increase in the prices of certain vegetables, he said it was ``temporary''.
