The national capital witnessed several rounds of relentless rains last week that threw life out of gear. Roads caved in, underpasses were flooded, and traffic snarls turned 20-minute commutes into three-hour nightmares.
The heavy rains that lashed the city were yet another reminder of the city’s longstanding struggle with monsoon preparedness. Pothole-ridden roads, poorly maintained drainage systems and ageing infrastructure once again combined to produce scenes of urban paralysis. In multiple areas across the Capital, roads collapsed. Underpasses in several parts of the city quickly filled with rainwater. Social media sites were flooded with images and videos of waterlogged streets, floating vehicles, stranded buses and frustrated commuters passing through knee-deep water. The downpour laid bare the Capital’s inadequate drainage network and lack of urban planning.
Water gushed into houses and shops in South Delhi’s Saket, Malviya Nagar and Greater Kailash. The situation was not very different in North Delhi’s Burari and Civil Lines or Patparganj and Mayur Vihar in the eastern part of the city, which all reported flooding. Western parts of the Capital, namely Janakpuri, Tilak Nagar and Punjabi Bagh, also faced severe traffic congestion, thanks to the accumulation of water. Several main roads and arterial routes, including segments of the Ring Road and the Outer Ring Road, were partially submerged, severely affecting both public and private transport systems.
It was not just motorists that bore the brunt of nature’s fury. Though Metro services were unaffected, severe waterlogging on roads and entry points hindered access to the subway stations. Several DTC buses were rerouted or delayed as waterlogging in underpasses and road collapses made normal routes unsafe or impassable.
The widespread disruption put civic bodies like the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) in a tight spot. However, amid all the chaos, there was one thing that stood out. The infamous Minto Bridge underpass—once a perennial symbol of monsoon misery—did not see any waterlogging this time. It begs the question: If it’s possible to fix that underpass, why can’t measures be taken to stem the issue in the rest of the city?
Delhi govt’s giant push
The Delhi government has rolled out a massive anti-waterlogging campaign across the Capital. CM Rekha Gupta, in collaboration with the Public Works Department (PWD) and the Irrigation & Flood Control (I&FC) Department led by Parvesh Verma, has laid out a multi-pronged strategy. The plan includes desilting of drains, real-time surveillance of hotspots, installation of sumps & pumps and stringent accountability.
Desilting
One of the flagship efforts this year was the large scale desilting of drains. The MCD completed the removal of over 1.7 lakh metric tonnes of silt from some 530 km of major city drains across all 12 zones by June 30.
At NDMC-managed areas like Golf Links, Purana Qila and Bharti Nagar, specialised hydraulic desilting machinery was funded (for Rs 5.2 crore) and made operational. A complete cleaning of the Sunehri Nullah has been under way at an outlay of a whopping Rs 70 crore.
NDMC vice-chairman Kuljeet Chahal said, “These facilities are among the initiatives taken to ensure no waterlogging occurs in low-lying areas. Preparations are on to avoid waterlogging in areas surrounding the Purana Qila. Meanwhile, a sump well with a 40,000-litre capacity is under construction at Bharti Nagar.”
Real-time monitoring
In a bid to improve responsiveness, every identified waterlogging zone was assigned a nodal officer. The mandate—continuous oversight of drains, immediate fixes and strict personal accountability. Gupta publicly warned them of suspension or disciplinary action in the event of negligence. “I want the officers deputed to monitor waterlogging points to do their work properly, or they may be the next to face action,” she said.
The government has identified seven critical hotspots, including the Minto Road underpass, Ring Road near the WHO building, the Jahangirpuri metro road and the Pul Prahladpur underpass, as high priority areas. According to PWD Minister Verma, 90% of Delhi’s major drains were cleaned pre-monsoon, with GPS tracked modern machinery in place.
Infrastructure enhancements
At Minto Bridge, the city’s most notorious waterlogging point, multiple new infrastructure interventions were implemented, such as a new, alternative drain to redirect stormwater from the underpass to JLN Marg, installation of upgraded and automated pumps and re engineering work over the previous four months.
Additional engineering corrections were planned at Ring Road near the WHO building, including road raising, installation of new drains (350 m and 280 m), sumps and pumping by tractor mounted units in the short term. CM Gupta also laid emphasis on garbage management.
The result: Success at Minto Bridge, failures across the city
Heavy rain on July 23 brought major parts of Delhi to a standstill. Yet, Minto Bridge remained unaffected—a far cry from the scenario in the previous years, when it frequently made national headlines for flooding, stranded vehicles and even fatalities. Traffic passed smoothly through the underpass, surprising commuters and drawing praise on social media as a rare monsoon miracle.
PWD officials largely credited this to the enhanced drainage system and proactive pumping infrastructure. Minister Verma asserted that pump operators were alert, dewatering equipment functioned correctly, and that early fixes made all the difference. “Some problem areas have already been fixed, and work is ongoing in others. This shows that the government is serious,” he added.
Despite these engineering gains, many other areas continued to suffer. Road sections near the Barakhamba Road, Ajmeri Gate and neighbourhoods of East Delhi, South Extension, Mehrauli–Gurgaon Road, Nehru Place and Narela villages experienced severe flooding and traffic snarls during the rains. Lutyens’ Delhi was also affected. Pictures emerged of knee deep water, street boating and flooded schools in Tikri Kalan and Patparganj. Some other underpasses—like the Ring Road stretches, Saket Metro and Prembari—were still under ‘transition’, with ongoing pump deployment. Flash rains exposed incomplete drainage upgrades and bottlenecks.
The contrast highlighted a clear pattern—while hotspots that received targeted engineering interventions, desilting and strict monitoring performed significantly well, areas not yet fully upgraded remained vulnerable.
Why some measures worked and others failed
Some government measures to tackle waterlogging worked effectively in targeted areas but failed to yield results in others, largely due to disparities in planning, execution and responsiveness across the city.
The success at Minto Bridge can be attributed to focused intervention and the concentrated deployment of engineering solutions. The underpass was among the seven waterlogging hotspots selected for special attention, which meant it received dedicated infrastructure upgrades, such as a newly constructed drain system, installation of automated pumps and a re-engineered pump house. The targeted nature of this work ensured that stormwater could be quickly diverted or removed, a level of preparedness not mirrored in several other zones.
The situation also highlighted the benefits of thorough desilting and real-time oversight. In areas where drains were extensively cleaned ahead of the monsoon and kept under active surveillance, particularly by nodal officers deputed for round-the-clock monitoring, rainwater was managed with far fewer disruptions. However, where this vigilance slackened, often due to municipal staff shortages or delayed execution, waterlogging quickly returned. Even freshly cleaned drains became ineffective when the garbage continued to be dumped nearby or if minor blockages went unchecked.
Another major determinant was coordination, or the lack thereof, between various departments. In many instances, stormwater drains were found to be interconnected with sewer lines of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), and mismanagement on one front affected the entire system. Municipal garbage, building debris or silt left uncleared exacerbated the problem. Without a seamless mechanism to synchronise the efforts of the PWD, DJB, NDMC, MCD and other local officials, even minor technical snags ballooned into large-scale flooding incidents. This was evident last year at Minto Bridge itself, where despite proper drainage, waterlogging occurred because an overflowing sewer line fed into the system.
The government’s push for accountability also played a role in determining outcomes. At Minto Bridge, for instance, a junior PWD engineer was suspended last year for failing to prevent flooding. This year, nodal officers were made responsible for managing their assigned zones, with instructions that negligence would not be tolerated. In areas where such accountability mechanisms were enforced, responses to rainfall events were more efficient. However, regions where the chain of responsibility remained unclear or toothless continued to experience poor outcomes.
Lastly, the effectiveness of these measures was also tested by the scale and intensity of rainfall. While the newly upgraded infrastructure and desilted drains held up well under moderate rain, the system showed strain under intense or prolonged spells. These geographic and infrastructural limitations acted as a natural ceiling on how much the preventive measures could achieve.
Where the gaps remain
Despite the significant efforts made by the Delhi government to mitigate waterlogging this monsoon season, several critical gaps remain that continue to hinder citywide resilience against heavy rains.
One major issue is the uneven desilting across different zones. While the MCD reported impressive figures in terms of total silt removed from major drains, the backlog from previous years and the sheer volume of drains in the city meant that smaller drains, especially those in internal colonies and outer areas like Narela villages, did not receive the same level of attention. These peripheral and less-visible zones remained underprepared as heavy rains arrived, leading to localised waterlogging despite broader citywide improvements.
Another persistent problem has been the management of garbage and illegal dumping. Even with standing orders for regular garbage clearance, drain inlets in parts of South and East Delhi continued to get clogged due to the accumulation of trash. This is especially true in areas with narrow lanes, dense housing or informal settlements, where waste disposal mechanisms are either inadequate or inconsistently implemented. The choking of drains by solid waste effectively nullified desilting efforts in many pockets.
Additionally, several infrastructure projects designed to address chronic waterlogging are still in various stages of completion. Key areas like the Ring Road near the WHO building, Zakhira flyover, and Pul Prahladpur underpass are still undergoing construction or drainage upgrades. Until these projects are fully executed, the affected zones remain susceptible.