Who Will Fix This Mess? Speak Up

Time of India

a day ago

New Delhi: It has been 18 days since the stretch in front of Ghazipur mandi, connecting with Kaushambi Road near National Highway 9, became waterlogged and two full days since TOI spotlighted the civic crisis.
Yet, the authorities remained unmoved.
On Friday too, the road remained submerged in deep, putrid water—a dark blend of sewage and rain that slithered between buildings, buses and shops. Even the potholes went missing — not because they were fixed, but because they were obscured by the dirty water. The stretch forms a Y-shaped junction, with one arm leading to Kaushambi Road and the other to Ghazipur Road. Both the arms are now flooded, with the situation visibly worse on the Ghazipur side, where the depth, stench and stagnation made the road nearly unusable.
But what greeted TOI on Friday was worse. Once brown and murky, the water now glowed a sinister green, as if the road itself was decomposing. Algae, sewage and garbage stewed under the weak sun. The stench of rotting food, drain water and waste material intensified in the time, but the civic machinery remained in deep slumber.
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Delhi Development Authority owns the road, and sources said desilting was done but the sludge was left on the roadside.
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Then the rains came, and with them, the mess returned. "A DDA team did visit after the report, but only to add footprints to the filth. No repairs, no pumping, no cordoning. Just bureaucratic silence," a frustrated area resident moaned.
Meanwhile, bikes stall mid-flood, cars inch forward, their number plates drowned, and schoolkids tiptoe across the waterlogged path, their shoes wrapped in plastic bags. The crisis hit local sellers too.
Bitiya, a vegetable vendor who ran his busines at a corner of the carriageway, had to relocate because of water accumulation. "Earlier, I used to make Rs 1,200 a day. Now, it's not even Rs 500," she sighed. "Customers don't want to wade through dirty water to reach us.
"
Sonu, who visits the mandi daily from Malviya Nagar to buy stock, said, "Kuch na kuch toh kharaab ho hi jaata hai (Some mishap or the other is a certainty). We also can't load our carts fully because the collected water contaminates the vegetables."
For residents, the worry now is not only the inconvenience, but also health. Several housing societies along the stretch rely on the Ganga pipeline that runs close to the waterlogged road. "We're scared of contaminated water seeping into the clean waterline. No one is talking about this, but it's a real threat," said a resident. "For many women, even everyday errands have become impossible. We can't walk to buy vegetables or fruits like we used to.
We have to wait for someone to take us by car or just skip shopping altogether."
Societies also fear structural damage with the water entering the basements. "There's seepage on the walls. And even if a JCB is at the ground for some time, cleaning the drain is like they are cleaning an ocean with a spoon."
While the CNG fuel pump near the mandi has been forced to halt its operations, entry and exit routes to the main road are almost impossible to negotiate.
Vilakshana Dawra, an area resident, said, "There is waterlogging right next to our building, and it keeps getting worse. The road leading to the CNG pump has been blocked for nearly a month. Earlier, people could at least access it, but it's now unusable due to the flooding.
"
While vendors take a hit and residents remain exhausted, the civic response seems nowhere in sight. TOI reached out to the area's MLA, BJP's OP Sharma.
He said, "It's DDA's responsibility. We've approached them several times for the problem. Even mandi vendors are suffering. Strict action must be taken against those responsible, but there's been no progress."
The municipal councillor, AAP's Rachna, said, "The drain here connects to a larger one in the IP Extension area. After receiving complaints about flooding, we immediately reached out to DDA. As per the updates, blockages were discovered at six spots and DDA is making efforts to clear them. Four have been cleared, but work on two are still pending. If the issue doesn't get resolved in the next few days, we'll have to take up the matter with DDA again.
"
TOI also sent queries to Union minister and MP Harsh Malhotra and DDA, but there was no response from them to the several attempts.