Rain takes the blame, civic bodies cleared

A day after the chaos in the city due to heavy rain, the civic agencies blamed it all the rain and wind. Delhi Chief Secretary Rakesh Mehta reviewed the situation and gave a clean chit to all the civic agencies.

A day after the chaos in the city due to heavy rain, the civic agencies blamed it all the rain and wind.

HT Image

Delhi Chief Secretary Rakesh Mehta reviewed the situation and gave a clean chit to all the civic agencies.

“Waterlogging took place because there was unprecedented rain for nearly an hour. The civic agencies had made adequate arrangements,” said Mehta. “I have asked them to continue reviewing the arrangements.”

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), which is responsible for the upkeep of 98 per cent of the city, said waterlogging was reported from 45 areas under their jurisdiction. The impact was the greatest in South and Cenral zones.

MCD Commissioner KS Mehra said, “The main cause of waterlogging was the storm. The wind was blowing at a speed of 100 km per hour that resulted in uprooting of several trees and falling of leaves. The leaves that accumulated in bell mouths (openings of the drains) clogged the drains.” He said staffs were deployed immediately to clean the bell mouths.

Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) SN Srivastava said traffic signals were switched off in Central and South Delhi to handle the heavy traffic.

“It becomes impossible to tackle huge traffic in heavy rain with traffic lights on. There were incidents of traffic indiscipline,” he said.