Ghaziabad: A day after heavy rain ravaged the city and flooded the roads, officials responsible kept passing the buck for the failure of civic infrastructure that led to five deaths.On Friday, water receded from the streets but it was still filled with knee-deep mud and slush. An official of Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation said quick response teams are working round the clock to clear drains and clear waterlogged spots.Mayor Sunita Dalal said the administration had begun cleaning the drains months in advance this year. “People had dumped garbage, including plastic bags and cow dung, in the drains, which caused the flooding,” she said.Councillor from ward number 100, Sanjay Singh, however, blamed tardy progress of maintenance work by contractors. He also said cleaning of drains had begun earlier this year but the work was not completed within the stipulated time.“In Indirapuram, for instance, there are six major drains in the township — two on CISF Road, two on Kala Patthar Road and two on Sai Chowk Road, which abuts NH-9. Small drains should ideally be connected to the main drain. But the smaller drains is under repair for months now, which aggravated the problem in the township.”Singh held officials and especially contractors responsible for it. “The work progress should be reviewed by officials and they should have ordered the contractors to expedite work, who I suspect delayed it on purpose. I will take up the issue with the mayor and in the next GMC board meeting,” he said.
On Friday, the death toll caused by rain-related incidents climed to five.
Municipal commissioner Vikramaditya Malik said the city experienced “unprecedented rain” which the present infrastructure cannot handle. “Sadar tehsil recorded a rainfall of 210 mm and 170 mm in Company Bagh and on average the city witnessed 200 mm of rainfall. This is unprecedented because normally the city witnesses, especially during this time of year, 40 mm to 50 mm of rainfall,” he said.On the issue of drains, he said, “We are upgrading them but as of now, we cannot expect the present ones to handle an influx of water of this level.”Residents, however, remained sceptical of the authorities’ efforts to manage rain-related issues that cropped up in the past two days.‘It is too late and too little,” said Kumar Anupam, a resident of Supertech Icon in Nyay Khand 1, who shifted to Indirapuram last year. ‘It is clear that the authorities cannot handle the situation.Some residents are also thinking of shifting out of the city. Alok Kumar of Arihant Harmony said, “A friend of mine called this morning and suggested that I relocate to Noida. After Thursday, I am seriously considering it. For failure of this magnitude, responsible officials should be sacked.”Nisha Rai, who now lives in Noida, said, “I lived in Indirapuram from 2005 till 2015. We faced the same problems every monsoon. After 10 years, I took the decision to relocate because the infrastructure was not improving at all.”
