Monsoon Wading: How Delhi Has Built Its Own Way Into Flood Crisis

Time of India

3 days ago

New Delhi: The flooding that brought large parts of Delhi to a standstill in 2023 is not a freak act of nature. A recent report says it is the outcome of a long-ignored unplanned urban expansion, high rainwater runoff, reduced groundwater recharge and poor drainage networks.
Waste disposal in drains and waterbodies, uncleared sewers and drains and encroachment of eco-sensitive areas contribute to the problem.
These findings emerged from the Environmental Improvement Plan of Delhi, an assessment of urban flood management in the city after every heavy rainfall. The report states that Delhi's transformation from wetlands and agricultural fields into concrete settlements has dramatically reduced the city's natural capacity to absorb rainfall.
Built-up areas now dominate, resulting in higher surface runoff and reduced groundwater recharge.
In places like Connaught Place and Karol Bagh and dense informal settlements like Sangam Vihar, compact layouts and lack of planning exacerbate waterlogging. Conversely, in low-density peripheries such as Chhatarpur, Dwarka and Narela, though green, overlap with flood-prone belts of the Yamuna floodplain. The river's banks, once natural flood buffers, have now been taken over by urbanisation.
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Several urban zones sit in low-lying depressions with inadequate slope toward drainage outlets. ITO, for instance, suffers from poor natural flow and so regularly overwhelms the stormwater drain network. Hundreds of illegal settlements on the floodplain as well as legitimately built areas such as Mayur Vihar and bungalows in Civil Lines were impacted by the swollen river in 2023, with more than 23,000 people having to be evacuated.
In July 2024, the basement of a coaching centre was flooded and took the lives of three students. This year too, several areas have been deluged every time it has rained heavily.
A govt official claimed, "Conditions this year have improved significantly, though some areas suffered waterlogging. The usually affected spots like Minto Bridge, Ring Road opposite WHO office, Jahangirpuri metro station road, Zakhira flyover and the Loni Road roundabout did not report waterlogging in the last heavy showers."
He also claimed there had been "intense cleaning" of the Barapullah drain because of which any accumulated water receded quickly.
The report highlighted choked drains as a factor. The practice of dumping garbage into open drains and waterbodies had blocked major water pathways, while encroachments have blocked drainage lines in Kirat Nagar, Dwarka and Rohini, it said.
Delhi's drainage network, maintained by different agencies, totals 3,642 km.
PWD manages the largest chunk of 2,064km, Delhi govt's irrigation and flood control department (426km), MCD (521km), NDMC and Delhi Cantonment (374km) and DDA, (251km). Officials disclosed that a committee has been formed to coordinate between the multiple agencies. They claimed that the same party at the helm in the state govt and in MCD, coordination has been better in recent days.
The industrial sector also contributes to the problem.
While industries produce 32.79 million litres of effluent every day, the existing common effluent treatment plants treat just 63.4 MLD against their capacity of 212.3 MLD. This inefficiency, coupled with sewage system punctures, burdens the stormwater drain network, the report said. A govt official, however, said that the treatment figures in the report related to the earlier situation and these had, as of now, improved.
Govt was closely monitoring CEPTs and ensuring that efficiency increased, he said.
As rainfall patterns become more erratic due to climate change, the capital faces intense downpours over short durations, a challenge for its already stressed, clogged and poorly planned stormwater system. The report underlines several urgent recommendations to strengthen solid waste and stormwater management, restore and desilt natural drains, undertake reforms to prevent further encroachments and engage local communities in awareness and maintenance efforts.