The heavy rains and the resulting waterlogging have led to break-down of vehicles whose repairs have added to the financial burden on their owners.
Amdavadis usually love rain, no matter how incessant it is. But the recent downpour has sent the budget of many households tumbling and we aren't talking about vegetable prices here.
The heavy rains and the resulting waterlogging have led to break-down of vehicles whose repairs have added to the financial burden on their owners. Take the case of Tula Santoki whose vehicle stopped midway in a waterlogged street. After dragging it through the water, Santoki had to cough out Rs1,000 to get her vehicle repaired. She said that the additional expense had sent her household budget haywire.
The same is the case with four-wheeler owners, who are trying to navigate the flooded city roads in their vehicles when the better thing would be to get a boat. Pinakin Patel, who runs a van service to pick up and drop schoolchildren in Bopal, had to shift some of the children to another van when his vehicle got stranded on a waterlogged road.
"Luckily for me, I have two vans. I shifted some of the students to the other one. Waterlogging in Bopal is severe and it has damaged my vehicle," he said. Needless to say, garage mechanics are not complaining and have even registered a rise in income during this monsoon.
The mechanics said the number of calls they receive to get vehicles towed from waterlogged areas has gone up steeply. "Car owners have to spend around Rs1,000 to Rs 2,000 on repairs if their car breaks down due to waterlogging," said Naeem Tadha of AY Automobiles in Sarkhej. He said that once a car stops functioning in a waterlogged area, it is advisable not to try to start it again. "In the case of hatchback cars, it is better not to venture into a waterlogged area where the stagnant water comes up to the midpoint of the wheels," he said.
Director of Group Planet Petal, Sukhbir Bagga, said that in case of technical problems caused by waterlogging, car owners will have to shell out a minimum of Rs1,000 on repairs.
"We have observed a rise in emergency service calls. Earlier, we used to get just one or two such calls a day. These days it is 8 to 9 calls a day," said Bagga.
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