NEW DELHI: Heavy overnight rain that continued Thursday morning inundated several arterial stretches and internal roads across Delhi, with photos and videos of submerged underpasses, vehicles resembling boats, and people gingerly wading through waterlogged roads flooding social media.By 2 pm, PWD was swamped with complaints of deluged areas, including Seelampur, GT Road, Babarpur, Loni Road, New Friends Colony, Sarai Jullena, Saket, Gulabi Bagh, Vasundhara Enclave, Dev Nagar, Karol Bagh, and Greater Kailash-II.Waterlogging was also seen at several key stretches like MB Road, NH-24 near Ghazipur, parts of Dwarka, Vikas Marg near Rajghat and near Saket Metro station. Delhi Traffic Police flagged waterlogging at Murga Mandi in Ghazipur, Pandav Nagar underpass, a service road near Shamshan Ghat and ISBT flyover underpass.Despite New Delhi Municipal Council’s claims that it was prepared for this kind of deluge, waterlogging was reported from Mandir Marg, near Pandara Road and Sarojini Nagar Market.
However, the mayhem was not confined to just the main roads. Videos of flooded internal roads in Deoli, Vayusenabad and Jaitpur in south Delhi went viral. The situation was similar in the internal lanes of Laxmi Nagar, Gandhi Nagar, Loni and Khajuri Khas.A video shared by a Bharatiya Yuva Congress worker showed an underpass completely submerged, with cycle-rickshaws all but disappearing under the water and pedestrians waiting helplessly on either side.“Our residents’ group on a social media platform has been flooded with complaints. The stretch leading to the city from the airport was submerged in the morning,” said Dwarka resident Rejimon C K.The premises of Govt Girls/Boys Senior Secondary School No. 3 in Molarband in Badarpur were waterlogged for the past two days. The overnight rain worsened the situation, with three to four feet of water accumulating on Meethapur Road outside the school, disrupting traffic and forcing students to stay at home.Ankush Narang, AAP councillor and leader of the opposition in MCD, said, “The main road in Laxmi Nagar is submerged under knee-deep water. Is this BJP’s so-called triple-engine governance model? The condition of Vinod Nagar is equally bad.”A resident of Khajuri Khas said a key road leading to DDA’s facility centre was under water, adding that the problem recurred every monsoon.Brijesh Singh, BJP councillor from Sabhapur in Shahdara South Zone, shared videos of him inspecting and clearing waterlogged roads. “People’s habit of throwing waste into drains is one of the main reasons for this. At the same time, the main drains are unable to carry water from smaller ones. I will discuss the matter with the MLA to find a concrete solution,” he said.The Badli Gaon underpass in Rohini was inundated, while roads leading to Kohat Enclave resembled ponds. In west Delhi’s Nasirpur and Mubarkpur, the situation was similar. Knee-deep water at Azadpur mandi severely affected business, traders said.Several trees fell across the city, with traffic police receiving complaints from Shankar Vihar, Aurobindo Marg and outside Lady Hardinge Medical College.A newly built road next to the Tuglakabad shooting range caved in at multiple places. “While the road falls under our jurisdiction, the irrigation and flood control department, which restored its surface after carrying out redevelopment work in a nearby drain, is restoring it again,” said an MCD official.Chief minister Rekha Gupta inspected drainage arrangements in Shalimar Village to review measures taken to tackle waterlogging. She directed officials to ensure proper drainage and efficient discharge of water.PWD minister Parvesh Verma, too, reviewed the condition across the city from the department’s 24×7 monsoon control room. However, he said, “Traffic movement is smooth in locations like Minto Bridge, Zakhira, Dhaula Kuan and Moolchand, once known for severe waterlogging.”Forty-five vulnerable locations are under continuous surveillance through 179 CCTV cameras, PWD said. It has deployed 754 permanent pumps at 167 areas and 305 temporary ones at 273 locations, with engineering teams and emergency staff on standby throughout monsoon. Its 24×7 control room received around 120 public complaints in the past 48 hours, most of which were resolved within 15 to 30 minutes, depending on the intensity of the rainfall and the conditions of the sites, it claimed.However, Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president Devender Yadav wondered why so many areas were waterlogged despite being constantly monitored.
