In the aftermath of last night’s record-breaking rainfall, the Kejriwal government has swiftly mobilized to address severe waterlogging across Delhi. An emergency meeting at the Delhi Secretariat, chaired by Ministers Atishi, Saurabh Bharadwaj, Gopal Rai, and Imran Hussain, brought together senior officials from key departments, including the PWD, MCD, NDMC, and Delhi Jal Board. To ensure rapid response, the Kejriwal government has established a 24-hour joint control room. Delhiites are urged to report water logging issues via the helpline 1800110093 or WhatsApp 8130188222. The government’s prompt actions highlight its commitment to mitigating the impact of heavy rains and ensuring public safety.
After the emergency meeting, Delhi PWD Minister Atishi said that Delhi has received its first monsoon rain. According to the data of the Meteorological Observatory (IMD) located at Safdarjung, 228 mm of rain has been recorded in Delhi in the last 24 hours. This is the first time since 1936 that Delhi has received so much rain in a day. Delhi receives 800 mm of rain during the entire monsoon. But in the last 24 hours, about 25% of the entire monsoon has already occurred. Due to such unexpected rain, there has been a problem of waterlogging at many places in Delhi. Due to high water flow, drains were also overflowing for several hours. Due to this, it took several hours for the waterlogging to end. There is a danger of electric current spreading due to waterlogging. Therefore, as a precaution, power cuts had to be done in some areas.
Delhi PWD Minister Atishi posted on her ‘X’ handle (erstwhile Twitter) that for the first time since 1936, Delhi has received 228 mm of rain in 24 hours. That is, 25% of the total monsoon rain (800 mm) in Delhi has occurred in just 24 hours. Due to this, drains have overflowed in many areas and it took time to drain out the rainwater. Delhi government cabinet ministers called an emergency meeting on the water logging situation and further strategy, in which important decisions have been taken to fight waterlogging.
“First, a joint emergency control room of all water-related departments – DJB, MCD and Irrigation and Flood Control Department will be set up, which will monitor waterlogging 24 hours a day and take action. Second, all departments will inspect their permanent and mobile water pumps by tonight and ensure that all pumps are ready to drain out water. Third, every department will form a quick response team and will be deployed to remove waterlogging at the ground level. Fourth, recyclers will be installed in every zone of DJB, so that if the drains get filled with water and silt due to lack of stormwater drains, they can be cleaned. For this, workers will also be deployed as per the requirement. The public is requested that if there is any complaint of waterlogging, then call 1800110093 or inform the control room by WhatsApp on 8130188222,” her post concludes.
At the same time, Delhi Urban Development (UD) Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj while giving information about the decisions taken in the meeting said that a 24-hour working control room is being prepared in the Public Works Department (PWD) headquarters. Three senior officers will be on duty here in 8-hour shifts. Officers will be present in the control room all the time so that waterlogging can be monitored 24 hours a day. Officials of major water-related departments, such as PWD, Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), irrigation and flood department will also be present in the water logging control room so that they can coordinate with their respective departments.
The Delhi Urban Development Minister informed that all the departments have been instructed to check the pumps installed at various places by 10 pm. If there is any fault in them, get it repaired and send its report by 10 pm. Mobile pumps were installed in many areas by MCD and PWD. Due to more rain than expected, it will be ensured that these pumps run on time and their capacity will be reviewed. Along with MCD and PWD, NDMC and the Cantonment Board have also been asked to review it.
Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj stated that all departments have been instructed to form their quick response teams so that these teams can start work immediately on receiving a complaint of waterlogging from any area. Sometimes water logging occurs due to minor reasons. Traffic police, MLAs and councilors have been asked to provide a list of possible waterlogging spots in their respective areas. The Chief Secretary will review this list along with all the departments and give necessary instructions. Similarly, the problem of waterlogging is also occurring due to a lack of coordination between different departments in many places.
“Many cases are related to two or three departments like Irrigation and Flood Department, NDMC, PWD and DDA. Instructions have been given to prepare a list of such cases and they will be monitored continuously so that there is no problem of waterlogging,” he continued.
The Urban Development Minister shared that in many areas there are no drains to drain out the rainwater. Because of this, this water flows through the sewer. This problem is not limited to unauthorized colonies, but also in big posh areas. In many areas, drains have been covered due to various reasons and water is drained through the sewer line, due to which there is a danger of the sewer line getting choked. All the soil and silt of the area collects in the sewer line. Therefore, Delhi Jal Board has been instructed to get one recycler machine for each of the 11 zones, so that large-scale blockages can be fixed.
“Apart from this, the Delhi Jal Board has been asked to arrange contract labor for sewer duty. In case of waterlogging anywhere, Delhiites can give information by calling the PWD control room on 1800110093. Apart from this, information can also be given by sending a message on WhatsApp number 8130188222,” Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj informed.
Ministers and MLAs came down to the ground to provide immediate relief to Delhiites from waterlogging
Due to the record rainfall last night in Delhi, waterlogging occurred at many places. To provide immediate relief to the people, the ministers and MLAs of the Delhi government came down to the ground and solved the problem of waterlogging by staying among them for hours.
