Delhi: Experts say lack of contour-mapping, population boom to be blamed for waterlogging

Delhiites endured another spate of heavy rainfall which drowned much of the national capital on July 31. 

Clocking in 108 mm of rainfall in a span of 12 hours from 8:30 pm on July 31 to 8:30 am on August 1, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the rain left multiple localities across the city drenched and waterlogged. 

Stretches in prime locations such as Connaught Place and ITO witnessed massive disruption in traffic movement leaving many commuters stuck in multiple traffic jams. 

It has become a fact of life in Delhi that even a 20-minute long spell of rain can leave an entire street waterlogged. 

According to urban planners and experts, the rot runs deep and an absolute overhaul is required to ensure that waterlogging does not happen as frequently. 

Unfortunately, the flood in 2023 was not enough for the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), Delhi Development Authority (DDA), Public Works Department (PWD), Delhi Government and the Lieutenant Governor’s Office to bring about an overhaul in the drainage system. 

Pushkar Pawar, a town planner who has worked with the MCD, said that the national capital faces multiple problems which have led to many waterlogging incidents. 

“The most important factor at play is the lack of contour-mapping in Delhi. None of the civic authorities have identified low lying areas in the national capital. Due to this, people have built their houses and other buildings in areas which should have functioned as natural drains. What has happened now is that water accumulates in these contours and causes waterlogging since there is no way for it to pass through,” he said. 

Also Read: Delhi rains: Claims of de-silting fall flat as city gets submerged again

“There are multiple factors at play here which has led to such a state of waterlogging in Delhi. The drains have not been desilted in a very long time. Authorities say that they have cleaned the drains but it is mostly only on paper. If nobody is cleaning the drains, it is only obvious that waste material will not get any space to exit and immediately lead to the drain getting clogged. If the drain gets clogged, the waste and the rainwater cannot exit,” he said.

He added that the drains were also not prepared keeping the growth of population in mind. 

“The drains here are very old and in the past 20 years, there has been a massive rise in population here. For example, if there were 500 people staying at one place, the drain was built keeping the waste material of that number of people in mind. However, now there are a thousand people staying at that place but the drain can accommodate the waste of the initial 500 people only. This obviously leads to accumulation of the waste and causes the drain to get clogged,” he said. 

He added that the need of the hour is an absolute overhaul of the drainage system. 

Similar problems were highlighted by Pradeep Sharma, an architect and urban planner, who accused the MCD of not doing enough to overhaul the drainage in the national capital. 

“The drains here are old and their size is small considering the population. The MCD has done nothing to solve the problem. Moreover, if the drains are not desilted or cleaned then there is no way for them to prepare for the monsoon season,” he said. 

Sharma suggested an overhaul of the drainage system as the only way to eliminate the problem. 

“Only an absolute overhaul of the drains according to the population can help tackle the issue. Otherwise, no matter the amount of desilting, the situation will improve only slightly,” he said. 

From July 27, the day of the Old Rajinder Nagar incident to Thursday, August 1, at least five people have died including in Ghazipur, where a woman slipped and fell with her child into a DDA drain.