Explained: Encroachment, poor urban planning add to waterlogging woes

Over the years, Delhi’s drainage system has fallen prey to encroachment and poor planning. Most storm water drains in the capital are the ones that have been carved out by the natural flow of water over hundreds of years. With unplanned development, many of them were encroached upon, covered and obstructed. This meant that water did not have an outlet anymore. To add to the problems, several sewer networks have been mixed with stormwater drains and when it rains, the system gets overwhelmed.

Concretisation also has a role to play, with very little open space remaining where water can be absorbed into the earth.

The Delhi government has planned to put in place a drainage master plan that will work on road redesign, clearing out key storm water drains, delinking sewer lines from storm water drains, among other problems, to rid Delhi of the annual hardship.

PWD had floated tenders to appoint consultants to provide solutions for the problems being encountered in water discharge. This was supposed to happen in March but only two bidders came forward and both of them were rejected by the assessor.

A new tender was then floated in May. The consultant is expected to provide actionable and implementable solutions, along with a roadmap for the engineering solutions.

Despite significant waterlogging, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said that out of the seven key spots that faced persistent problems, six did not get flooded this year. “These 6 locations are Opposite ITO-WHO Building, Minto Bridge, Zakhira Underpass, Jahangirpuri Metro Station Road, Karala Kanjhawala Road, Loni Roundabout… Due to steps taken in the last year and with the officials from the PWD and other agencies keeping a close watch in the last 4-5 months, the problem of water logging was solved… Even at the bridge at Prahaladpur, adequate steps were taken by the government to get rid of water logging. However, due to a power outage and other problems on the first day of the rainy season, there was a problem in the running of the pump and there was water logging due to which the traffic had to be stopped,” Sisodia said.