NEW DELHI: We have lost everything and are not sure if we will ever be able to return to a normal life. We saw no preparations by the authorities for a flood situation in the city and are living without our essential items” rues Gujri Devi, a septuagenarian living in the Yamuna floodplains.
People living in low-lying areas and within the Yamuna floodplains have had a harrowing time ever since the water level of Yamuna breached the danger mark and the water entered their homes. They were forced to move to shelters overnight without adequate food and drinking water. The sordid state of affairs is that despite the tall claims of flood management for years, a completely collapsed system has been witnessed on the ground as Raj Ghat, ITO, Civil Lines, Kashmere Gate, Okhla, Nizamuddin, Yamuna Bank, Pragati Maidan, Wazibad, Monastery Market, Khajoori, and Sonia Vihar among others have been completely flooded ever since. At a juncture when the national capital is all set to host the main event of the prestigious G-20 Summit this year, a sudden increase in water level in the Yamuna River has allegedly exposed system failure as majority of city areas have submerged in water. With thousands rendered homeless, many complain of government apathy and allege that they have failed to chalk out a plan for flood control.
Similar to Gujri, there are thousands of people living in an unprecedented situation. Before the floods, Kishanwati Devi’s house near Raj Ghat area was demolished for beautification ahead of the G-20 meeting in the city. “My house was razed, and I, along with my family, was asked to leave the area. We were somehow trying to adjust in a makeshift jhuggi to make both ends meet, but the recent flood washed away everything. No meaning of life is left for people like us and for any move in the future, we will have to start from scratch,” rues Kishanwati.
The Yamuna floodplains have also been used by farmers to grow vegetables and fruits to cater to local demand but with the area now fully submerged, they have means to earn any income. “We do farming here and earn our livelihood. How can we run our families? Whether it’s a rapid increase in water level or complete inundation of our farmlands, we will have to stay here for our future. Our struggle will never end, but we have no other option,” said Ramesh Shah, a man living along with his two children, wife, and mother in one of the relief camps in the ITO area.
Working on a 50-year-old plan
City’s drainage master plan was chalked out in 1976. The population has increased manifold since then and no new drainage master plan has been drawn up and implemented by the concerned agencies ever since. Over the years, Delhi’s drainage system has fallen prey to encroachment and poor planning as well. PWD estimates that the old drainage system can accommodate a maximum of 50 mm of rainfall. When flood situations arise, Delhi agencies use temporary pumps and mobile pumps to drain the water. These temporary arrangements failed this time and as a result, many areas were inundated.
City planning on paper
For several years now, the Delhi government has planned to put in place a drainage master plan that will work on road redesign, clearing out key storm water drains, and delinking sewer lines from storm water drains, among other problems, to rid Delhi of the annual hardship. The city is equipped with a total of 201 natural drains that are categorized into three primary drainage basins: Najafgarh, Trans-Yamuna, and Barapullah. However, the rapid expansion of urban areas and substantial alterations in land usage has led to the emergence of recurrent flooding problems in the city. These issues can be attributed to the excessive concretization of surfaces, the disappearance of water bodies, encroachments on stormwater drains, and the discharge of untreated sewage and waste, all of which hinder the natural flow of water.
Excess rainfall
Within a span of 36 hours from Saturday morning (July 8), the city witnessed an unprecedented downpour of 260 mm of rainfall. This extraordinary spell of rain forced government agencies to issue a flood warning and closure of schools. In the next 24-hours on Sunday, the Safdarjung Observatory registered 153 mm of rain. This recorded measurement marked the highest precipitation observed in a single day since July 25, 1982, when 169.9 mm of rain was documented. IMD stated that Delhi received more than 20 per cent of its entire season’s rainfall in a single day. Delhi experienced the worst flood in decades as the river water level crossed the critical mark of 207.49 meters, a record registered in 1978 after more water was released from the Hathnikund barrage in Haryana.
Polluted drainage
There are 18 major drains in the city, out of which 12 discharge untreated water in a 22-kilometer stretch of the Yamuna starting from Wazirabad and ending at Okhla Barrage. The National Mission on Clean Ganga (NMCG) has reportedly informed state agencies like the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) and the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) in this regard. Untreated water in the Yamuna from 12 major drains reportedly causes more than 75 per cent pollution of the entire river.
Politics over calamity
Though people were seen reeling severely due to the prevailing flood situation, political blame games and exchanges of words were also witnessed. AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said that the Delhi floods were a well-planned conspiracy hatched by the BJP and Modi government. He said that in a flood situation, water is released from Hathni Kund towards Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Delhi in balanced quantities, but from July 9 to 13, all the water was released towards Delhi. Singh questioned that had water been released equally towards all three states, the areas adjacent to the Yamuna would have been safe.
Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva said that it is very regrettable that instead of doing relief work, CM Arvind Kejriwal and his political colleagues kept making political statements and tried to blame Haryana for Delhi floods. Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president Anil Kumar said that the Kejriwal government, as always, shifted the poor people at the eleventh hour, without any preparation. They have been made to squat near the roads on the Yamuna bridge, without food or water. He said that even water tankers have not been provided for them to fulfil their basic needs.
War of words in front of cameras
A war of words was also witnessed between the LG VK Saxena and Delhi Water Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj. The minister accused bureaucrats of disregarding his pleas for assistance in dealing with the flood situation in the city and raised this issue before the LG in front of the media. The Governor criticised the AAP Minister claiming that his behaviour as “immature, uninformed, and politically motivated.”
The argument between the two officials took place earlier in the day, with reporters present along with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Minister Atishi. Interrupting the LG, Bhardwaj claimed that he had asked the city’s Divisional Commissioner, Ashwani Kumar, on Wednesday night to bring in the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) to help repair the damaged drain regulator responsible for the flooding in the ITO area. According to Bhardwaj, his requests were ignored.
‘Unprecedented levels of rain’
PWD estimates: Existing drainage system can accommodate maximum of 50 mm rainfall
The CM says
Rain is a great leveller — it shows where we stand. This time, a receding Yamuna exposes tall claims of the city government. To begin with, there is no planning to manage city drainage. On top of it, there is politics, writes Anup Verma