Delhi buckles under first significant monsoon rain spell

New Delhi faced severe waterlogging and traffic disruptions after heavy rains, highlighting inadequate monsoon preparedness, as residents expressed frustration.

New Delhi

A waterlogged road at Pragati Maidan. (RAJ K RAJ /HT PHOTO)

The incessant spell of rainfall that started on Wednesday evening and continued through the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday brought the Capital to its knees, as major roads were waterlogged, water flowed into houses, and traffic came to a standstill, due to knee-deep water at multiple places.

The worst hit were the north, southwest, east and southeast Delhi localities. Even as the intensity of the rainfall reduced by Thursday morningwater was yet to recede from the underpasses and bylanes, putting into sharp focus the city’s lack of monsoon preparedness, given it was the first significant spell of monsoon rainfall.

Delhi chief minister Rekha Gupta, in a review meeting on Thursday, said the government fared well at long-term hot spots, such as Minto Bridge and ITO junction, but said there was a need for more action on the ground at affected locations.

“Under no circumstances will the public be allowed to suffer,” said Gupta.

She also said the government was working hard to undo the backlog of the past 27 years. “Delhi will be in an even better condition by next monsoon,” she said.

Delhi recorded 20.5mm of rainfall in 24 hours leading to 8.30am on Thursday at its base weather station at Safdarjung, and another 17.1mm on Thursday, until 5.30pm.

However, residents were unhappy with the preparedness.

“Within no time, there was one to two feet of water everywhere. It entered people’s houses and cars... In the area, waste is also dumped in the open, and this ends up clogging drains. Worse, when it rains like it did on Wednesday night, the garbage enters homes with water,” said Sunil Kumar, president of Jahangirpuri’s Sant Ravidas Nagar residents’ welfare association. He said the situation normalised only by Thursday afternoon.

Officials of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) said waterlogging was mainly recorded in low-lying areas. “Heavy rainfall in a short time period led to waterlogging in low lying areas. We do not have control over rains and drainage network in some parts of the city needs long term capital investment,” an MCD official said.

The official said that 465 temporary pumps have been deployed at 76 vulnerable spots.

Kuljeet Singh Chahal, vice-chairperson of the New Delhi Municipal Council, said that he undertook an early morning inspection of key areas and found only one isolated instance of waterlogging, as per complaints received at the NDMC’s Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC). “There were no incidents of tree falls, electricity faults, or major disruptions reported in the NDMC area,” he added.

In east Delhi, Patparganj, Krishna Nagar and Welcome localities suffered inundation, and snarls that started on Wednesday evening continued past midnight, according to residents.

“There was water wherever you went in east Delhi. It was ankle deep at most spots, and at some locations, it was difficult to take your car forward,” said 59-year-old BS Vohra, the president of the East Delhi RWA joint front, highlighting that the situation was especially bad at Krishna Nagar.

West Delhi fared no better, with locals blaming authorities for failing to clean or desilt drains properly. “The problem in our area is that some drainages are not connected or cleaned, so they overflow easily,” said Paras Tyagi, a resident of Vikaspuri, where roads were filled up to two feet of water until Thursday afternoon.

At Najafgarh, where 100mm of rainfall was recorded in 24 hours until 8.30am on Thursday, residents said they were confined to their premises. “Water was up to our knees entering the colony. It was difficult to even walk or leave our houses. Drains are never cleaned or desilted here. Even smaller spells of rain lead to such a situation,” he said.

During spot checks, HT found heavy waterlogging in Anna Nagar, near ITO, and at Malka Ganj and Ghanta Ghar Chowk in north Delhi.

At Anna Nagar, children were seen walking on fences to avoid waterlogged roads. “It always gets clogged like this. Even half an hour of rain leads to waterlogging in our area,” said Rajwati Devi, 37, a resident.

“In our colony, the area in front of the Kerala Education Society school gets badly waterlogged every year, in around two to three feet of water,” said Vinod Nair, the president of the RWA, SFS flats in Mayur Vihar Phase 3.

Videos from inundated roads in Shalimar Bagh area, the constituency of chief minister Rekha Gupta, were widely shared on social media with Opposition members questioning desilting claims made by the government. AAP Delhi chief Saurabh Bhardwaj shared videos of people standing in knee-deep water, asking Delhi CM to have a look at her own constituency. Water reportedly entered the houses in slum clusters of the region.

Shalimar Bagh councillors from AAP Jalaj Kumar posted on X several videos of inundated roads: “This is Shalimar Bagh constituency. The four engine government of CM Rekha Gupta ji had claimed that water will not accumulate during rains but the first rain if the monsoon has turned roads into rivers.”