Brisk rain marks start of Lko weekend, more in store

Hindustan Times

2 days ago

Friday rain caused havoc not just in Lucknow but in adjoining areas too. Due to the rain a portion of a prominent building in Gomti Nagar collapsed in which a person was killed. A tree fell over a few vehicles near Burlington Crossing, and water-logging on Sultanpur Road caused traffic jams, making commuters' life difficult. A tree fell near the Ahuja Hospital located in Vivek Khand area in Gomti Nagar, Lucknow, on Friday (Deepak Gupta/HT)
Lucknow recorded 7.2 mm rainfall that left several areas inundated with rain water that caused inconvenience to commuters.
After Friday's rain, the rain deficit in Uttar Pradesh was pegged at 6%.
The state has experienced 285.4 mm rainfall since June 1 against normal 304.1 mm. So far East UP received 253.8 mm rainfall against normal of 331.7 mm, deficit of 23%, while West UP got 330.7 mm rainfall against normal 265.6 mm, surplus 24%, according to data shared by Lucknow Met office.
The forecast for Lucknow for Saturday is partly cloudy becoming generally cloudy sky towards afternoon/evening with one or two spells of rain/thundershower. The maximum and minimum temperature will be around 35 and 28 degrees Celsius, respectively.
Prayagraj received a maximum of 58.8 mm rainfall, Basti 53 mm, Churk 37.2 mm, Fursatganj 29 mm, Bahraich 11.8 mm.
Trees uprooted, streets water-logged
The rain uprooted trees, flooded major roads, and halted traffic in multiple areas of the state capital. The downpour, which began around 4 pm, exposed the poor drainage and rain preparedness of the Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) in the state capital.
During HT's visit, multiple areas witnessed road blockages due to fallen trees. Near Maharana Pratap intersection on the route towards Sadar, a tree collapsed in the middle of the road, hampering traffic flow. A similar situation was reported from Vipul Khand, where another tree fell.
In the busy Vibhuti Khand area, large portions of the road were submerged and experienced water-logging, creating difficulties for two-wheeler riders.
The Clock Tower stretch in Old Lucknow, too, was hit hard, with heavy water-logging bringing vehicular movement to a halt.
In Shankarpurwa ward, residents shared videos of water-logged streets and overflowing sewers.
Close to the City Station, yet another tree falling led to traffic diversions, and many passengers had to take longer routes to reach the railway station.
When contacted by Hindustan Times, municipal commissioner Gaurav Kumar said that all teams are deployed on the ground, and wherever complaints of water-logging or uprooted trees blocking roads are being received, teams are being rushed to clear the spot.
Lucknow crawls
Traffic crawled at a snail's pace and major routes witnessed bumper-to-bumper traffic with people stuck in the jam for hours.
Areas like Gomti Nagar, Kamta, Chinhat, the entire Faizabad Road stretch, Shaheed Path, Kathutha Crossing, Hussainganj, Hazratganj, and several parts of Old City saw major traffic snarls.
The Lucknow traffic department on its official X handle informed that traffic police were on their toes as trees fell in several spots.
In Gomti Nagar, a tree fell near the Taj Hotel, blocking part of the road. On Airforce Station Road, another tree came crashing down on a car. Luckily, no one was hurt.
Widespread power outages
The rain also exposed the fragile state of Lucknow's power infrastructure. Several areas plunged into darkness for hours as multiple feeders and power lines broke down in the downpour.
Areas such as Gomti Nagar Extension, Power House Sector 1, Khargapur, Vinay Khand-3, Patrakar Puram, Kohinoor Apartment (Chinhat), and Sai Residency (Chinhat) experienced prolonged blackouts shortly after the rains began. In Naubasta Kalan, the situation was especially dire, with five electric poles collapsing, cutting off power completely.
The Railway Power House Chander Nagar feeder was also affected, with supply resuming only after a five-hour outage. Similarly, the Engineering College feeder and a 33 kV line supplying Khurram Nagar also failed, leaving Jankipuram Feeder-1 down for nearly half the day due to a tree falling.
Central parts of the city such as Mahanagar, Nirala Nagar, Daliganj, Ahibaranpur, and the Priyadarshini Powerhouse zone were not spared either, experiencing disruptions lasting three hours.
Officials from the Lucknow Electricity Supply Administration (LESA) attributed the breakdowns to fallen trees and electric poles due to the storm.