Floors below to roads above, Ghaziabad inundated

Adding to the irony, even the headquarters of the Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation and the Ghaziabad Development Authority at Navyug Market were inundated, locals said.

Heavy rainfall on Saturday morning once again brought Ghaziabad to a standstill, with waterlogged roads, traffic snarls, and water entering homes becoming a familiar monsoon ordeal for thousands of residents across the city.

Commuters brave through a flooded stretch in Vaibhav Khand, Ghaziabad on Saturday. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

The downpour, coinciding with the festival of Rakshabandhan, left much of the city inundated for hours yet again, disrupting celebrations and daily routines.

According to the Indian Meteorological Department’s 24-hour report, the city recorded 37.5mm of rainfall between 8.30am on August 8 and 8.30am on August 9. The heavy spell began around 7am and continued until 11am, followed by moderate showers throughout the day.

In Vijay Nagar’s Bagu locality, resident Sanjay Solomon was busy clearing about 1.5 feet of water from his home on Saturday morning.

“The water damaged my furniture, appliances, and around 500kg of wheat stored for my flour mill. This exact situation happened during the rains on July 30. The water receded only around 2pm, and there was no help from the corporation. Nearly 300-400 households here faced the same problem,” he said.

Several major roads, including those in Vasundhara, Indirapuram, and Sahibabad, were submerged.

An inundated stretch near UP Gate on National Highway 9 in Ghaziabad on Saturday. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

In Indirapuram’s Ahimsa Khand, the boundary wall of Niho Scottish Garden collapsed under the pressure of rainwater, damaging several cars and flooding the basement of one block with up to three feet of water.

“The water gushed from outside towards the boundary wall, and it collapsed on cars parked nearby. About 5-7 cars suffered damage. The water also entered the basement of I block. It was about 2-3 feet of water,” said DK Maurya, resident of the high-rise.

Adding to the irony, even the headquarters of the Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation and the Ghaziabad Development Authority at Navyug Market were inundated, locals said.

Former councillor Zakir Ali Saifi filmed the scene and posted it online. “There was about two feet of water, and it was impossible to tell where the road ended and the drain began,” he said.

Traffic movement across the city and adjoining highways was severely hit. Long jams were reported on NH-9, Lal Kuan, UP-Gate, Mohan Nagar, GT Road, and Hapur Road. Rajesh Sharma, who left East Delhi for Hapur, said he was stuck for an hour on NH-9 due to waterlogging and jams stretching from Indirapuram to Lal Kuan.

Traffic police said personnel worked throughout the day to keep vehicles moving despite the flooding. “We coordinated with corporation officials to speed up water removal, but the situation caused major delays,” said Sacchidanand, additional DCP (traffic).

The municipal corporation, on their part, said teams were deployed across the city trying to manage all rain-related incidents.

“Our personnel were also deployed at all 55 low-lying locations where waterlogging happens. Our pumps to flush out water remained deployed,” said KP Anand, general manager (water works).