New Delhi: This year’s first spell of monsoon rain lashed the Capital in the wee hours of Friday. Though they lasted only about four hours, the showers were enough to bring Delhi to a standstill, inundating roads and causing traffic bottlenecks — exposing, once again, the glaring incompetence of various civic bodies responsible for the Capital’s clogged drains.
One person died and at least eight others were severely injured as a section of the roof of T-1 at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport collapsed in the early hours of Friday. All flights scheduled to depart from T-1 were temporarily suspended and a probe ordered.
In a second rain-related incident, three labourers fell into a pit at an under-construction site in Vasant Vihar area. Personnel of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Delhi Fire Services (DFS) are on the spot and rescue operations are underway.
Meanwhile, major roads and intersections in South, East, Central and North Delhi remained submerged for most part of the morning, causing traffic snarls that lasted hours. Many vehicles broke down, adding to the chaos commuters had to face.
For instance, Aurobindo Marg witnessed delay on both carriageways due to waterlogging underneath the AIIMS flyover. At the same time, visuals from Pragati Vihar Hostel for government officials showed rainwater entering apartments on the ground floor.
The CGO Complex on Lodhi Road, which houses offices of the Staff Selection Commission, India Meteorological Department (IMD), and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), was also affected.
“We are asked to maintain office timings. What about maintaining office roads?” one official on his way to the CGO Complex told ThePrint.
Others had to remove their shoes and wade through flooded streets.
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Failure of civic agencies
Safdarjung recorded 228.1 mm of rainfall over the last 24 hours (till 8:30 AM Friday) — likely to be a single-day record for the month of June. The last time Safdarjung saw a ‘very heavy’ spell of rainfall (153 mm) in a single day was on 9 July 2023.
Other manual weather stations in Delhi, including those at Lodhi Road, Pitampura, and Ayanagar, also recorded substantial rainfall. In the 24 hours leading up to 8:30 AM, Lodhi Road registered 219 mm, Pitampura 138 mm, and Ayanagar 66.3 mm of rainfall.
That the inundation was widespread despite extension of the 30 May deadline for completion of desilting work to 15 June showed how the two agencies largely responsible for it — PWD and MCD — failed miserably.
MCD is in-charge of over 466 km of drains, situated four feet or deeper, in residential areas, while the PWD is responsible for 2,156 km of drains along arterial roads.
According to information provided by the Delhi government on 13 June, PWD desilted 61 percent (around 1,293 km) of drains under its jurisdiction, while MCD reported that 87 percent of its desilting work was completed till 10 June.
Asked what is being done to resume normalcy at the earliest, a PWD official told ThePrint, “We are right now trying to install pumps to drain the water. At some locations, we are cleaning the drains to allow water to pass. We had completed desilting of most big drains, but due to the downpour it is taking time to clear the water.”
The Delhi government, meanwhile, has called an emergency meeting at 2 PM to address the issue of waterlogging. Additionally, L-G V.K. Saxena will review the situation in a meeting with all departments concerned, including PWD, DJB, and MCD.
The ongoing tussle between the L-G and the Delhi government has only made matters worse, with leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) claiming instructions to civil servants have been falling on deaf ears. On 20 June, Urban Development Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj wrote to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) alleging that Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar did not provide an update about desilting of drains despite being asked to do so on 27 May.
This is not the first time heavy rainfall crippled parts of Delhi. Last year, when Yamuna breached the danger mark, clogged drains left several residential areas inundated.
Apart from lack of preparedness of civic agencies, experts say, the bigger problem is Delhi government’s lackadaisical attitude towards finding a permanent solution to the problem.
Sarvagya Srivastava, former engineer-in-chief of Delhi PWD, told ThePrint, “This is not the first time the city got waterlogged. We have been seeing this since 2010. But no lessons have been learnt. While desilting of the existing drain network is important, there is an urgent need to upgrade the drainage and sewer infrastructure.”
“Currently, sewers are flowing into stormwater drains. The Delhi Jal Board should lay sewer lines to increase the capacity as the city’s population has increased manifold. There is also a need to have a good network of stormwater drainage. But the government has not invested in it,” he added.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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