Delhi rains: Over 300 complaints regarding waterlogging issues received

Amid heavy rainfall in the national capital, the civic agencies and police on Friday received over 300 complaints regarding the waterlogging issues from across Delhi.

Similarly, the calls related to the traffic and falling of trees have also reached to these departments.

According to the Delhi Public Works Department, they received more than 200 calls on Friday regarding the waterlogging issues.

An official said when they checked, they found that several areas come under the jurisdiction of other departments. The PWD also received two to three complaints of falling of trees.

The areas where it took two to three hours to resolve waterlogging complaints were Seelampur, Krishna Nagar and Badli while it took four to five hours to drain out water from areas like Moolchand underpass, Zakhira, Dhaula Kuan and Adchini. The waterlogging at Minto Road took nearly 12 hours to clear out, according to officials.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) said that they got 33 complaints regarding the waterlogging issue. Some of the areas where the issue was reported are Rajinder Nagar, Sabzi Mandi Old, Rajouri Garden Extension, Khanpur, Hauz Khas, Pitampura and Malviya Nagar.

The civic department has received 11 calls related to falling of trees from Trilokpuri, Patparganj, Vasant Vihar and Nand Nagri.

Monsoon arrived in Delhi on Friday as heavy rains, the highest in a single day of June in 88 years, brought the national capital to a standstill leaving streets flooded, traffic caught in chaos and flight operations suspended at Delhi airport's Terminal-1 due to a canopy collapse.

Key tunnels like the one at Pragati Maidan were closed and reports of homes being flooded came in from across the city, including the upscale areas of Lutyens' Delhi.

Bungalows of Delhi Water Minister Atishi and several MPs, including Congress' Shashi Tharoor and Manish Tewari and Samjawadi Party's Ramgopal Yadav, were flooded.

The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) command and control room received 90 calls of waterlogging and 15 calls pertaining to falling of trees. The complaints were received from areas like Sarojini Nagar underpass, also known as Africa Avenue Road, Laxmibai Nagar, Tughlak Road, Golf Links, Bharti Nagar, Kidwai Nagar, Mandir Marg, Connaught Place E Block and Gole Market, according to the NDMC officials.

Majority of the complaints were resolved within half an hour while it took two to three hours to resolve waterlogging at Sarojini Nagar underpass, they said.

Delhi Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar, who also holds the charge of the NDMC chairman, visited the civic body's command and control centre to take stock of the situation and issued directions. He will also hold a meeting in the evening over the situation.

According to Delhi Police, they got 71 complaints regarding waterlogging, 18 related to falling of trees and 30 related to traffic issues.

Delhi PWD Minister Atishi said that South Delhi received the maximum rainfall. "Not only Barapullah drain, but also many colonies witnessed waterlogging this morning. Because of heavy rainfall, a wall of the Barapullah drain wad breached. MCD, Irrigation and Flood Control department are working. It is not about one department versus another at this time. All departments are deploying their manpower and resources. Bunding work is going on and hopefully after that, the overflow will stop," she added.

In the last 24 hours, 20 to 30 per cent of rainfall of entire monsoon was recorded which led to overflow of drains.

The drain, which flows from Central Delhi to ITO to WHO and then to Yamuna, also experienced overflowing. It took time due to this to drain water from ITO and Minto Bridge.

When rains stopped, the water level in drains receded. Due to the overflow of Barapullah drain, there were waterlogging issues at Jangpura A, Mathura Road and Sunlight Colony. In these areas, temporary motors were deployed.

According to the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), the DMRC services operated without any major disruptions despite the heavy rainfall that lashed Delhi and its nearby areas on Friday. However, rainwater entered some Metro stations such as Kashmere Gate, Yashobhoomi Dwarka Sector-25 and Jangpura affecting certain passenger areas at the concourse level. This occurred due to water accumulation outside the entry gates.

“DMRC immediately deployed teams to clear the rainwater, ensuring minimal inconvenience to commuters. We are also working in coordination with all the concerned departments in this regard. Additionally, a thorough review is underway to identify the causes and implement necessary measures to prevent future occurrences,” said Anuj Dayal, Principal Executive Director, Corporate Communications, DMRC.