Chandigarh: Disaster management team missing in action at Rampur Seuri labour colony

“I saw that the water was touching even up to 15 ft high and soil was eroding. I got out of my car and first ran up to the stretch to stop the traffic from that side. Gradually, cracks started appearing on the stretch. I could even feel the road level going a bit down while standing,” he said.

Even as there was traffic jam due to diversion, the SI rushed to evacuate residents of the colony whose houses were along the bank.  “Although initially, they were not listening to us, I along with two policemen, persuaded them and got them out. And the same happened – what we feared – one by one the houses were pulled down by the water currents,” he said.

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Singh added, “How much could I have done alone? At that point of time, we didn’t know whether to consider the traffic situation or to get the residents evacuated – but lives are important. As power supply to the colony was switched off, we didn’t even have searchlights. The situation would have been all the more grave had even a single person from the colony gone missing.”

Residents of the colony had staged a protest on the highway Monday night alleging that they received no help from the administration. Although the traffic flow returned to normal after two hours, the police lodged an FIR against unidentified persons.