Lutyens’ area waterlogged, Delhi CM Kejriwal seeks solutions from NDMC

Kejriwal held an emergency review meeting with agencies and departments to assess the situation in the New Delhi area

After two days of heavy rainfall led to the streets of Lutyens Delhi getting inundated, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday directed the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) to study the causes behind the unprecedented waterlogging, and to chalk out a special plan to prevent similar incidents in the future.

A waterlogged Connaught Place on Saturday. (Sanchit Khanna/HT Photo)

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Large parts of the New Delhi area — the seat of power for the Union government — were inundated on Saturday and Sunday, with images of water logging at Connaught Place, Kartavya Path, arterial roads such as Janpath and even at the houses of senior bureaucrats being widely shared on social media.

On Saturday alone, NDMC received complaints of waterlogging from 42 areas, with six complaints about falling trees.

On Monday, Kejriwal held an emergency review meeting with agencies and departments to assess the situation in the New Delhi area. “Not to criticise anyone, but it was for the first time that NDMC VVIP areas saw massive waterlogging, and we have asked NDMC to study it to create a special plan so that similar complaints are not observed in future,” he said.

To be sure, the NDMC is an autonomous body set up by an act of Parliament, and the chief minister sits on the council as an ex officio member and chairs the council meetings.

An NDMC spokesperson said the flooding in New Delhi was due to rainfall of a very high intensity within a short span, which led to all main drainage barrels surpassing their capacities. “With the capacity of drains surpassed, the excess rainwater flowed back over the roads, mainly at Panchkuian Road, Connaught Place, and the AIIMS flyover, among other places. The NDMC area also received excess run-off water from Municipal Corporation of Delhi areas,” the spokesperson said, adding that a proposal to upgrade the capacity of trunk sewer lines and main barrels will be undertaken soon to increase the drainage capacity.

Read here: Amid heavy rains, overflowing river systems taking a toll

Meanwhile, NDMC vice-chairperson Satish Upadhyay alleged that the flooding in New Delhi areas was due to a Municipal Corporation of Delhi drain overflowing. “The flooding in NDMC areas was observed due to an MCD drain near Dyal Singh College. The CM should worry about the pathetic roads and drains under the Public Works Department and their jurisdiction. We are already taking care of NDMC areas,” he said.