NEW DELHI: NDMC chairperson Manoj Dwivedi issued a public apology on social media on Wednesday over rain-triggered waterlogging in parts of the capital, triggering an unusual discussion on civic accountability.
The IAS officer and IIT-Delhi alumnus opened a post on X saying, “I sincerely apologise to everyone in NDMC area who faced difficulties due to water logging instances on 25th August 2026.”
Dwivedi said the civic body would strengthen its systems to prevent a repeat. He acknowledged that while the drainage system usually clears waterlogging within 15-20 minutes, it lasted much longer this time. “In at least three to four areas, it took over an hour,” he said.
He attributed the delay to the intensity of the rainfall. “There was more than 72 mm rainfall in less than two hours and this was quite unexpected. But this cannot be an excuse and we will have to strengthen our systems to deal with such situations in future,” the post read.
Dwivedi assured to address the problem, saying “Various short term and long term measures will be made to make the entire NDMC area fully waterlogging free. We will work to ensure that our citizens should not face any inconvenience in future. Any suggestions for improvement are welcome.”
The public apology, and the fact that it came from a serving IAS officer heading a civic body, drew considerable attention on social media. One user remarked that they were “the first in their bloodline to witness an IAS officer apologising publicly”. Dwivedi also engaged extensively with users in the comment section.
‘Give disaster-like redress’
L-G Taranjit Singh Sandhu has directed officials to treat waterlogging as a “disaster” and mount a war-footing response. Calling for a holistic approach, he asked all departments to work in close coordination on the ground and ensure real-time redress. P3