Srinagar, Apr 19: Heavy rains caused waterlogging in several areas of the summer capital disrupting normal life.
In Srinagar city, places like commercial hub Lal Chowk besides Residency Road, Hari Singh High Street, Baba Dem, Mehjoor Nagar, Sanat Nagar, Khanyar and Indira Nagar were waterlogged.
Similarly civil line areas including Jawahar Nagar, Rajbagh and uptown areas including Hyderpora, Rawalpora too were waterlogged due to which movement in many colonies was restricted.
Locals from the parts of the city complained that inundated streets had restricted their movement while many among them had not taken their vehicles out.
“People preferred to stay indoors because of water-logged roads. Even in many areas, the streets are filled with knee deep water due to the defunct drainage system,” said one of the residents from Parraypora.
Due to the waterlogged roads, severe traffic jams were witnessed on major routes of the city.
“It took half an hour to travel from Lal Chowk to Jahangir Chowk as there was a heavy traffic jam from Amir Kadal to Hari Singh High Street where the road was filled with water,” said a pedestrian.
Shah Jahan, Superintendent Engineer, Hydraulic who is also holding an additional charge of SE Drainage told Greater Kashmir that the department is fully equipped to handle the issues of waterlogging in the city.
"We have managed the issues of waterlogging well. Our men and machinery were on the ground. Infact, I have myself visited areas like Parraypora. There is a traffic mess and huge Eid rush of people in different parts of the city. Our machinery cannot reach some areas due to the traffic jam," he said.
He said that the department has 90 dewatering pumps and over 127 mobile pumps on site.
"We have deployed machinery. Our men too are active on the ground," he said.
As per the officials, SMC department received at least nine waterlogging complaints from the different localities of Srinagar in a single day.
"We have received complaints from different parts of the city regarding water logging issues. We have sent a team with machinery and solved their issues," he said.
Meanwhile, the Irrigation and Flood Control Department on Wednesday said that there is no flood-like situation in the Valley and people need not to panic.
As per the department, the water level at Sangam is well below the danger mark and same is in Ram Munshi Bagh.
The incessant rainfall also disrupted train service between Qazigund and Banihal section after water logging at Hillar railway station in south Kashmir's Anantnag district.
Kashmir witnessed incessant rainfall since yesterday, while the weatherman has predicted more rain showers till April 22.
