Craters, flooded basements: Rain devastates Ghaziabad, Noida

Heavy rain in Ghaziabad flooded homes, vehicles, and roads, causing extensive damage and prompting residents to seek help amid inadequate civic response.

Four hours of heavy rainfall on Wednesday night threw life out of gear in Ghaziabad, flooding basements of high-rises and homes, with water entering bedrooms, drawing rooms, and kitchens. Dozens of vehicles were submerged, and roads across the city were heavily waterlogged. Drains overflowed, worsening the situation, and a road cave-in was also reported. Heavy rain over a seven-hour period from 10pm on Wednesday also caused a major sinkhole in Noida.

A flooded basement parking in Kavi Nagar in Ghaziabad where 18 cars have been submerged on Thursday. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

Ghaziabad received 8mm of rainfall on July 31, while Gautam Budh Nagar received 37mm, according to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD). Water even flooded the basement of the Ghaziabad development authority’s (GDA) headquarters and the headquarters of the municipal corporation. Residents said that such conditions have become a new normal this monsoon season.

“Water entered two dozen houses here and submerged bedrooms, drawing rooms, kitchens, and other areas. There was no help from the corporation, and we also called up the local MLA, who promised to send help. But no one arrived. We stayed up all night using buckets to remove water from our homes . Who will pay for damage?” said Tejesh Chauhan, resident of G block of Pratap Vihar, Ghaziabad.

The civic body said it used 90 pump sets to clear water from key locations including Diamond Flyover, UP Gate, Lal Kuan, Bhopra, and Apsara Border. “The situation was normalised by Thursday noon. Pump sets were deployed at 55 locations,” said KP Anand, general manager of the Ghaziabad civic body’s waterworks department.

Near Crossings Republik in Ghaziabad, a dug-up project site caved in around 12.30 am, and three empty cars and a two-wheeler fell into the 15-20 feet deep pit. They were pulled out using machines. “In the morning, I found 15 high-security registration plates of vehicles on the waterlogged road in Crossings Republik. These probably got detached from vehicles due to heavy water logging. I informed the police and the transport department and also circulated photos on residents’ groups,” said SK Mohanty, resident of Supertech Livingston, Crossings Republik.

A portion of the Crossings Republik–Shahberi Road also gave way during the rain. This 3-km stretch, which was redeveloped in May by the Greater Noida authority, connects Iteda in Greater Noida to Crossings Republik via Shahberi.

Mohanty added that the main drain along Shahberi Road from National Highway 9 to the Shahberi culvert was overflowing due to pruning waste being dumped in and around it. This caused the internal drainage systems of at least eight to 10 high-rises in Ghaziabad to backflow.

In Indirapuram, several areas including Mangal Bazar Chowk, Swarn Jayanti Park, Nyay Khand 2, Abhay Khand, and Shakti Khand faced severe waterlogging.

“The drains are choked due to encroachment and poor maintenance. Ghaziabad needs a proper drainage master plan,” said Kuldeep Saxena, resident of Shakti Khand.

At the Prateek Grand highrise in Siddharth Vihar, water flooded basement 2, which is shared by two project sites. Several cars were damaged. “Water came from the drain and the main road,” said Shashi Upreti, a resident.

A Prateek Group spokesperson said that the water came from poor road drainage, and not the society’s own system. “Our teams acted swiftly. We immediately deployed pumping sets and began removing the water. Within an hour, the entire basement was cleared. While the maintenance of the society’s internal infrastructure is our responsibility, the roads and external infrastructure fall under the jurisdiction of the respective government bodies,” the spokesperson said.

In Nehru Nagar and Rakesh Marg in Ghaziabad, the situation was worse.

“Water submerged blocks H, G, J, F, A and also nearby apartments. Many basements were filled with stagnant water and dozens of cars were submerged. The main drain is on higher ground. So when it overflows, water backflows into our area. This has been a long-standing problem,” said Udit Mohan Garg, councillor from ward 39 of Nasirpur.

Even government offices were not spared. The basements of both the Ghaziabad Development Authority and the municipal corporation were flooded.

“Rainwater entered our basement through an open window, not because of a drain overflow. It was pumped out quickly,” said Anand, of the civic body’s waterworks department. “The Navyug Market drain overflowed and flooded the basement of our headquarters. The water was flushed out using pumps,” said Rudresh Shukla, media coordinator of GDA.

In New Haibatpur near Greater Noida West, a single-lane road connecting to Gaur City was washed away between 2 and 3 am on Thursday. Around 4,000 homes were affected. The incident occurred when a damaged sewage line caused debris and water to flood the basement of an adjacent under-construction high-rise. Residents alleged that the road had been weakened by the ongoing construction work.

“On Thursday around 3am, a portion of the New Haibatpur village road was washed away. This was the main road connecting New Haibatpur to Greater Noida West (Gaur City). Now we have to travel several extra kilometres to reach home,” said Devendrea Kumar, a resident of New Haibatpur.

“The road may have weakened due to the digging. They dug as deep as two floors for the site. Water had also been eroding the area for some time,” said Rakesh Singh, another resident.

Construction workers said a cemented wall was built for safety, but water still entered the site. The CSR team of the builder, a public sector company, later began filling the damaged road section with sand from the site.

Greater Noida authority CEO NG Ravi Kumar said he has instructed officials to remain in the field and immediately resolve any waterlogging issues. “Upon receiving information about the sinkhole in Haibatpur and road erosion in Shahberi, teams were immediately rushed to the sites and they initiated repair work,” he said.