Delhi: Flooded underpass at Dhaula Kuan leaves agencies stumped

The Dhaula Kuan underpass has been flooded for two months without rain, puzzling PWD. Investigations reveal a possible leak from DJB's treated water supply.

The underpass along the Parade Road near Dhaula Kuan’s Manekshaw Centre has remained inundated for the past two months. The fact that there has been no rain during this period, has left the Public Works Department (PWD) officials puzzled and the source of the leak hasn’t been found yet.

The water logged underpass on Saturday. (Vipin Kumar/HT Photo)

PWD officials said that the underpass was developed by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and later handed over to the PWD for maintenance. About two months ago, the PWD initially started getting complaints of water filling up in the underpass, but the incidents weren’t regular.

“We got to know that water was filling up only on few days and initially thought that it was intentionally being done by someone. But the frequency has been increasing. We conducted inspections also to find if there is any leakage but there was no visible sign,” a senior PWD official said.

Water samples were then tested to check the source, which showed presence of chlorine content. Officials said chlorine is present in the treated water supplied by Delhi Jal Board (DJB). “There are two water pipelines passing from below the underpass. One is a DJB supply line and another is a Military Engineering Services (MES) pipeline. After the water testing, we have informed the DJB about the situation and have also conducted joint inspections,” the official informed. DJB officials are reportedly physically inspecting all sections of the underpass now to ascertain where exactly the leakage is, so repair work can be started.

However, even after the tests, both the authorities are still unable to assess the exact source or point of the leakage, the official said. Further, PWD’s secretary has also visited the area earlier this week to check the status.

While several road cave-ins have been reported in the past couple of years due to leakages in the supply water pipelines, DJB did not respond to HT’s request for a comment on the matter.

Meanwhile, several commuters have also complained about leakage in the underpass along Benito Juarez Marg. Commuters said that an overhead pipeline has been leaking for months dripping over vehicles and two-wheeler riders. PWD officials said that the repair work on this underpass will also be started soon.

PWD maintains all 1,400 kilometres of road network in Delhi that are 60 metres or more in width and include all flyovers and underpasses along these arterial roads.