Bhopal: The first bout of heavy rains this monsoon season on Thursday night in Bhopal was enough to expose the 'preparedness' of the BMC and the MPEB to deal with the problems that the season may throw up.

Waterlogging on roads, traffic halts at several places due to waterlogging up to knee height, and power supply going off when people needed light the most, both in households and on roads and streets, created a typical scene of mayhem during the rainy season. Residents of the state capital are used to this despite the topography of the city helping in the drainage of stormwater naturally.Areas near the railway station, particularly the stretch from Alpana Talkies Square to Bharat Talkies, both sides of the newly constructed GG flyover, the proposed metro depot near Subhash Nagar, places where metro work is being carried out, and the six no.

stop market in Shivaji Nagar were the areas worst affected by the waterlogging. At a few places, the BMC rescue teams pumped out the water to make the roads motorable or even walkable by the morning.

Shopkeepers, owners, and workers at other establishments in the patch from Alpana Talkies tri-section to Bharat Talkies, which is part of Hamidia Road, the business hub in old Bhopal, had to pump out the water from their shops, hotel lobbies, and restaurants on their own.

They complained that it was an 'annual ritual' for them. As and when there is heavy rain, water starts rising on the road and ultimately gushes into their establishments. Many of the shops, offices, hotels, and restaurants were closed on Friday due to stormwater running into them. "Every time it rains heavily, we fear this kind of chaos. Water enters our shops, hotels, restaurants, and offices, but nothing changes. It happened over the years, but nothing changes," said Jitendra Sahu and Mukesh Sahu, who own Balaji Bhojnalaya.

The situation in Sharma Bhojnalaya in the vicinity was also similar, with supplies stocked in the hotel getting spoiled in rainwater. It was necessary for workers at the hotels and restaurants in the area to pump out the water.Rahul Madhvani, a worker at Jai Ma Bhavani Tours and Travels, said there was a loss of around Rs 1 lakh due to the water that entered the office on Thursday night. "Our computer and printer got conked off.

The water in the shop rose to knee level, and we had to remove it ourselves. It's been the same story for 10 years," he added. Passengers going to the railway station, which is also in the vicinity, faced hardships in reaching there as the rains suddenly picked up at around 9.00 pm on Thursday, and there was a heavy downpour for an hour.

Personnel at the BMC flood control room, however, said that there was no major incident of waterlogging except for the patch from Alpana Talkies tri-section to Bharat Talkies.

They got an alert around 10.40 pm, and by the time they reached the site, there was 4 feet of water on the roads. The water was pumped out, and efforts to locate a person who was swept away in stormwater into a nearby nullah were made, but it later turned out that he was saved by passersby.There were also complaints of waterlogging at the 6 no. stop market, but the situation there was not so grim. "By the time we closed the shop, there was no waterlogging, though it had started raining, and when we opened the shop in the morning, the roads were wet, but there was no waterlogging as such," said a shopkeeper at 6 no.

stop.Referring to waterlogging on both sides of the recently inaugurated GG flyover, Rahul Vishwakarma, a commuter who passed through the flyover in the morning, said, "It's strange that there is no system for drainage of stormwater on either side of the flyover. Till the morning, there appeared to be an ‘artificial lake' created on both sides of the flyover due to stormwater storage," he said. The weatherman said there was 26.6 mm of rain in city in the 24 hours (from 8.00 am on Thursday to 8.00 am on Friday).