Stormwater canal backflow floods Jangpura, Defence Colony in Delhi

These areas remain inundated as backflow from the Barapullah canal has not allowed the excess rainwater to flow out into the Yamuna

Since Saturday, the Public Works Department (PWD) has received around 300 complaints about waterlogging and rainwater seeping into homes, officials aware of the matter said. More than half of these calls were from Jangpura and its surrounding neighbourhoods in low-lying areas of south Delhi, the officials said.

A severely waterlogged road in New Delhi on Sunday. (ANI)

These areas remain inundated as backflow from the Barapullah canal has not allowed the excess rainwater to flow out into the Yamuna, the officials said

“Across Jangpura and neighbouring areas such as Nizamuddin and Bhogal, water from the drains empties into the Barapullah canal, which finally drains into the Yamuna. After two days of heavy rainfall, the water level in the Yamuna as well as in the Barapullah canal is very high. As a result, there is a backflow from the canal, leading to waterlogging in these areas,” said a PWD official.

He said that the situation cannot completely be brought under control till the water levels in the Barapullah canal and Yamuna recede sufficiently for the drain outlets to function properly.

Many residents said they used pipes to pump water out of their homes. “On Saturday and Sunday, the entire street in front of my house was inundated with waist-level water, which made pumping water out of the house even more difficult. The situation was better by Monday, though the road is still waterlogged,” said Karan Gauba, a resident of Jangpura Block B.

Further south, areas such as Defence Colony and Lajpat Nagar were inundated, with residents blaming the waterlogging of the covering of the Kushak stormwater drain in 2008.

“The Kushak stormwater drain was covered in 2008, because of which every year when it rains, our basements get flooded. It’s almost like a river just changed course and entered our house. The roads are another story, with people wading across knee-deep water to get into their luxury cars,” said Bhavreen Kandhari, a resident of Defence Colony, D block.

Major (retired) Ranjit Singh, the former RWA president of Defence Colony, said, “An open drain with side slopes was replaced by the concrete Kushak drain, which was clearly a bad idea. The concrete bed does not allow water discharge, and the silt gets stuck inside. Besides, most of the basic civic infrastructure was designed in the 1950s, whereas population has increased four-fold now and similar infrastructure upgrade is needed.”

He added that the maintenance of the drain has recently been handed over by Delhi Development Authority to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi.

HT reached out to MCD, but its officials did not respond to queries for comment on the Kushak drain.

On Sunday, water minister Saurabh Bhardwaj had visited parts of Jangpura and discussed the water logging problem with PWD officials, asking them to get the area cleared at the earliest.