Delhi awakened to a second day of flooded streets, homes, shops and even hospitals, after intense morning showers on Wednesday brought back the city’s chronic and seemingly irresolvable misery of waterlogging.
India Meteorological Department (IMD) data showed the town recorded 112mm of rain within the 24 hours till 8:30am, and another 75.6mm fell within the three hours then , precipitating chaos for the morning hour . this is often the foremost amount of rain recorded during a single day in September in 19 years. on the average , the whole month typically records 125.1mm amount of rain.
Wednesday’s deluge however, was by no measure a record for 24-hour period, and 100mm-plus rain days have occurred this year on multiple occasions in May, July and August, making the day particularly emblematic of the Capital’s inability to affect even moderate amounts of rainfall.
As hour began, arterial stretches were jammed as waist-deep waters disabled many vehicles. Crucial spots at and around Minto Road, ITO, Dhaula Kuan, Moolchand were among those badly hit, as were high-profile Lutyens enclaves like Chanakyapuri, Shanti Path and Connaught Place.
Delhi Traffic Police said altogether , 90 locations had heavy waterlogging. In one instance, videos shot by commuters showed water coming down in cascades from a flyover, prompting ridicule from some who described it because the Capital’s own Niagara falls.
“I got ready early this morning since I knew i might get late if I left at the standard time. But the instant I stepped out, i used to be horrified. There was knee-deep water on the road and that i dropped the thought of getting to work altogether,” said Ritesh, who goes only by his given name . He lives in Uttam Nagar in west Delhi.
Experts and officials said the issues comprise fundamental issues with the civic infrastructure, how it’s maintained and, lately, the weather itself. The responsibility of roads and drains are split between the municipal corporations and Delhi government departments like structure Department (PWD). Each year, both blame one another for not doing enough to deal with the difficulty – although, unusually, officials from each side blamed the weather instead.
Equally important, experts said, are some fundamental problems within the city’s creaking drainage network – which a 2016 study by IIT-Delhi found to be mismanaged, choked and, at some places, even encroached upon by illegal construction.
“The most vital thing is that the town needs a correct system . The drainage plan prepared by IIT-Delhi should be implemented at the earliest,” said former MCD commissioner KS Mehra.
Sarvagya Srivastava, the previous engineer-in-chief of Delhi PWD, said much of the matter is because there are not any sewage lines, thanks to which stormwater drains double up as sewers. “Stormwater drains along arterial roads are designed accounting for the road capacity. Waterlogging is sure to happen if it carries additional water, including sewage, from residential neighbourhoods,” he said.
And then, there’s the rain itself. “We are recording short and intense bouts of rains, sometimes around 100mm rainfall in only 24 hours. Typically, this much precipitation would occur over a period of 10 to fifteen days,” said Mahesh Palawat, vice chairman , Skymet Weather, a personal forecasting agency.
These short and intense bursts dump more water than the city’s drains are during a condition to face up to . “This time, there are more instances of 100mm-plus rainfall days as compared to the previous couple of years. the prevailing system is meant for 50mm rainfall during a day. Beyond that, there’s sure to be waterlogging,” said a senior PWD official, asking to not be named.
A spokesperson said the Delhi government “will do whatever it can to resolve the matter of waterlogging”.
Delhi has received record rainfall within the past two days. it’s due to the monsoon preparations and precautions taken by the Delhi government within the past few months that the infamous Minto Bridge didn’t witness waterlogging to the extent of a bus getting inundated in it. aside from this, it had been observed that there was no waterlogging in several other parts of the town also . within the future, we’ll strive to succeed in A level that regardless of what proportion it rains, no roads in Delhi would witness any waterlogging and therefore the problems associated with it,” the spokesperson said.
The city has around 150 pain points that get flooded whenever it rains. On Wednesday, traffic officials had to put diversion at several of those spots as waterlogging made them impossible to cross. “Wherever required, the traffic was diverted onto other parallel roads. The underpasses were barricaded for safety,” said a senior police official, who didn’t wish to be named.
Gurvinder Singh Saluja, a resident of Old Rajinder Nagar, shared photos of water flowing into his basement where he runs his office. “The sewer lines within the area haven’t been laid fully. I had to call a plumber to urge the manhole checked. It had a lot of malba (debris) and solid waste in it. We had to stay draining out water from the basement. If water keeps seeping in during every rain, the inspiration of the homes will weaken over the years. The civic agencies must resolve these issue before they are available seeking votes,” said Saluja.