MCD's tall promises for this monsoon

The rains are meant to bring happiness, beauty and relief from the scorching heat when they arrive, but instead monsoon in Delhi  every year, is a season of complete chaos which the City never manages to tackle successfully.

Come monsoon and Delhi becomes a whirlpool of distress, dirt and damage and the problem lies in the faulty drainage and silting systems of the City.

The need of the hour is to take immediate measures so that the City does not experience waterlogging of such magnitude.

The main reason for this chaos is the water drainage system in the City which is old, decrepit and inefficient.

In the absence of an efficient drainage system, the water does not have an outlet and therefore gets accumulated. 

During the rainy season the City resembles a water world.

In order to cope up with the monsoon, Irrigation and Flood Control Department and Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) undertake pre-monsoon anti-waterlogging and flood control measures every year.

These include desilting of all the stormwater drains, restoration, repair
and cleaning of old eroded water pipes and setting up of control rooms in the City’s 12 municipal zones .

The MCD claims to be ‘fully prepared’ for the monsoon this year.

Yogendra Mann, spokesperson of the North and East Municipal Corporations, said, “We have already started monitoring problem areas and desilting of drains. We have also identified all the vulnerable areas. New pumps have been procured and will be used to pump out water during waterlogging. These pumps are also backed by a proper power supply and generator system. We will also have control rooms which will be working 24x7 to solve the issues of the public.”

The complaint number for North-South is 1266 and for East it is 155303.

“We will have officers from the horticulture, maintenance and sanitation departments in
the control rooms. We will also be having portable pumps for emergency usage,” said
the spokesperson.

The officer added, “All these work are a result of proper coordination of all the departments concerned and this year we have got together to work in tandem.Our dead-line is June 15 to complete all the work. Also, I would like to request the general public not to litter plastic bags as they block the drains that result in waterlogging.”

The corporations have identified many vulnerable areas in Delhi – Azad Market area, Baraf Khana Chowk, ISBT Kashmere Gate, Railway Bridge, Sabzi Mandi, Shahdara, J J Buland Masjid, Maan Sarovar Park, Badarpur Road, Khichripur, Mandawali, etc.

Despite these seemingly massive measures that are carried every year, the results are there for all to see, even when there is a brief spell of rain.

The problem obviously lies not just in the planning but also its execution.

Sanjay Surjan, chairperson, Standing Committee, East Delhi Municipal Corporation, said, “We have already started desilting of drains and are working according to the waterlogging action plan.As for the repair of the roads, after getting the budget in May or June, we will start our work.”

Otherwise a clean City, Delhi suffers the worst during monsoons.

A few minutes of rain and Delhi resembles a city in disarray–roads caved in, clogged drains choked streets, crawling traffic, and long hours of power cut.

In short, a capital mayhem!