Chandigarh, Aug. 20 -- Concentrated rain in the northern parts of the city left the Madhya Marg and surrounding sectors inundated with knee-deep water, causing huge traffic snarls on Tuesday afternoon. The southern parts, on the other hand, barely received any rain, with the roads beyond ISBT Sector 43 going towards the eastern side of the city, remaining completely dry. This reflected in the India Meteorological Department's (IMD) observatories too - the main observatory at Sector 39 recorded only trace rain (less than 0.1 mm) while the weather station installed at KBDAV School in Sector 7 logged 35 mm rain was recorded between 3.30 pm and 5.30 pm. The South Campus of Panjab University was the first to receive the rain, around 3.30 pm. In around 10-15 minutes, the North campus too witnessed heavy rainfall following which it spread to other nearby sectors, with Sector 8, 9, 15 and 16, and Sector 17 underpass being the worst-affected. Speaking about the localised nature of the rain, IMD Chandigarh director Surender Paul said, "The monsoon system isn't very strong right now. During such times, the weather systems move in the direction of higher humidity, based on topography. This leads to localised rainfall in the city." Congress president HS Lucky, meanwhile, said, "The city was brought to a grinding halt today after just an hour of rain. This highlights the urgent need for a complete overhaul of the city's drainage and disaster-preparedness systems." The city's decades-old drainage system, especially those in Sectors 1 to 30, is equipped to handle only 25 mm rain per hour. Lucky hit out at the BJP-led municipal corporation, saying, "Today's rain has exposed the MC's utter failure in managing the infrastructure of a city that has been ranked second in the Swachh Survekshan." Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Chandigarh president Vijay Pal said, "For years, the civic body has been under BJP's control. Crores of rupees from the budget went into contractors' pockets, yet the citizens received neither a robust drainage system nor a proper flood management plan. BJP has treated Chandigarh only as a vote bank, ignoring the real issues of its citizens." Maheshinder Singh Sidhu, the councillor for Sectors 1 to 10, said, "The unprecedented rainfall in such a short span today was nothing short of a cloudburst and the enormous volume of water overwhelmed the storm and sewer network, resulting in a deluge in the northern sectors." MC officials said that in an effort to ensure swift response and redressal of water-logging and rain-related emergencies, special flood control teams are working across the city. Two of the three floodgates of Sukhna Lake were opened after the water level at the lake crossed the danger mark of 1,163 feet. This is the fifth time this season that the water has crossed the danger mark, but the first time that two floodgates were opened in one go. This led to the Mubarakpur causeway in Dera Bassi to get completely submerged in Ghaggar river - the second time in 10 days. The causeway is a vital shortcut connecting Derabassi to Dhakoli....