Highest August rain since 2007 sends Delhi reeling under water

NEW DELHI: “Where should the common man go to make themselves heard? When will we finally get relief from this severe waterlogging? Is there any agency that is answerable to the public or is a blame game their only strategy?” groaned B S Vohra, head of East Delhi RWAs Joint Front. Like him, frustrated Delhiites took to social media on Saturday to raise a collective sigh of resignation over the failure of the civic agencies in making the city flood proof.
The record rainfall through Friday and early Saturday brought in its wake inundated roads and traffic gridlocks.Two buses were stuck under a bridge in east Delhi, while underpasses were submerged in several areas. The most telling image of the day’s wet havoc was a boat deployed to manage the situation at Pul Prahladpur, which has been deluged every time it has rained this year.
Delhi traffic police said the situation returned to near normalcy after the waters receded in most places by Saturday afternoon. By then, two buses had been stranded under a bridge near Welcome metro station in east Delhi while underpasses and underbridges at Moolchand, Pul Prahladpur, Dwarka, Mother Dairy, Rajokri, Vivek Vihar, Tilak Bridge and Mangi Bridge went under. The situation was no better in inner colony roads and water entered the houses in colonies in the Walled city and East Delhi. Markets like Sadar Bazar were in knee-deep water as was the redeveloped Chandni Chowk.
Train operations in Delhi were also impacted in the 8-11.30am period, with at least seven trains being rescheduled due to waterlogging between the New Delhi and Nizamuddin stations and between New Delhi and Old Delhi railway stations. “Though train operations resumed after 11.30am, there were delays,” said Deepak Kumar, CPRO, Northern Railway.
The East Delhi Municipal Corporation reported a partial building collapse in Johripur and received waterlogging complaints from 16 regions, including Mayur Vihar, Patparganj, Old Kondli, Shastri Park metro station, Anand Vihar, East Vinod Nagar and IP Extension. In Shahdara, similar complaints came from Sonia Vihar, New Seelampur, Dilshad Garden, Shivaji Park, Naveen Shahdara and Old Mustafabad.
SDMC reported waterlogging in some places in its south and central zones, though none from Najafgarh zone. There were 15 cases of trees falling in Govindpuri, Ring Road near Lajpat Nagar, South Extension II, Kalkaji, Nizamuddin West, Munirka, Mandakini Enclave Alaknanda, Panchsheel Enclave, CR Park and RK Puram Sector 3.
Commuters were forced to spend hours stuck in traffic. Rahul Ashra said he progressed at snail’s pace in the Rajghat area for over three hours. “Why weren’t there police teams on the stretch? An ambulance was stuck in the jam and desperately seeking help,” Ashra said.
Designed as it is to handle a maximum of 50mm of rain in a day, Delhi’s ageing drainage system was unable to cope with Saturday heavy downpour, measured at 138.8mm at Safdarjung weather stations. The crisis highlighted the need to expedite the implementation of a new drainage masterplan prepared by IIT-Delhi.
The IIT-D report, accepted by Delhi government in 2019, took almost a decade to be finalised. Yet it remains on paper even today. Some of its recommendations are the restoration of the natural drain system, separation of sewage and stormwater drains and improvement in the effectiveness of drain desilting with public display of work and certification on completion.
Multiple agencies and absence of a framework have plagued Delhi’s drainage. To manage the 3,700-km network of stormwater drains, Delhi has 10 agencies, including the corporations, PWD, DSIIDC, DDA and the state govt’s flood control department.