Rain stops Capital in tracks again

Complaints of waterlogging across all major roads in areas like Chhatarpur, Munirka, Najafgarh, Mahipalpur, Narela, Shashtri Nagar, East Patel Nagar, Krishna Nagar, Vikas Marg, Janak Puri, Dwarka and Paschim Vihar were reported.

For the second consecutive day, Delhi’s residents had to deal with long traffic jams and flooded arterial roads as heavy rain continued to lash the Capital and neighbouring areas on Friday.

Heavy traffic jam at Ring Road near South Extension was seen due to rain on Friday. Municipal corporations claim waterlogging complaints were received from only 20 odd places in the city. (Vipin Kumar/HT Photo)

While civic authorities were still struggling to deal with the waterlogging from Thursday rain, Friday’s heavy showers aggravated the troubles for office-goers and school children.

As per civic agencies, while complaints were received from only 20 odd places in the city, ground reports suggested waterlogging across all major roads.

The key places that remained under water included Chhatarpur, Munirka, Najafgarh, Mahipalpur, Narela, Shashtri Nagar, East Patel Nagar, Krishna Nagar, Vikas Marg, Janak Puri, Dwarka and Paschim Vihar.

“The civic agencies failed to address public grievances. While there is miscommunication among the civic agencies, the lack of clear bifurcation of roads and jurisdiction leads to blame game every year,” said Ganesh Sharma, businessman from Govindpuri.

The civic agencies in the city are responsible for ensuring a waterlogging-free monsoon. While the agencies spend more than Rs 500 crore, especially on desilting and making action plans for monsoon every year, the condition hasn’t changed much.

“Apart from the three corporations, there is NDMC, NHAI, DSIIDC, PWD and I&FC that too work independently for the cause. However, none of these agencies report to each other leading to miscommunication and is the reason behind the waterlogging,” said a senior official.