NEW DELHI: After light showers in the city on Tuesday, traffic snarls and road congestion were seen due to waterlogging in some parts. Taking to Twitter, the Delhi traffic police urged the commuters to plan their journey accordingly.
The weather department earlier informed that thunderstorms with light to moderate intensity of rain and gusty winds might occur in Delhi and NCR region. The monsoon is expected to arrive at the right time this year which is around June 27, said weather experts. The Public Work Department (PWD) has already started preparations to deal with the monsoon. Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who also holds charge of the PWD Minister tweeted, “Last year, the road in front of WHO near ITO was the hotspot for waterlogging.”
He added that this year, the citizens won’t have to face any such problem as the PWD engineers have made complete arrangements to prevent waterlogging. Sisodia also ordered the officials to complete the de-silting process and install pumps to avoid waterlogging during monsoon. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) claimed that de-stilling process in drains falling under the civic body has been completed.
As per MCD, a total of 9,920.29 metric tonnes of silt has been taken out from 195 drains in the north Delhi areas. Adding to this, South MCD took out 35,044.63 metric tonnes of silt from 275 drains and East took out 46,415.33 metric tonnes of silt from 218 drains.
As per figures, Delhi has more than 2,800 drains measuring about 3,692km. The PWD department has control over 3,000 drains approximately. The PWD has also set up a 24x7 control room to monitor the severe water-logging places in the national capital.