‘We can't even step out': Delhi locality wades through drain water for 9 months — even police station hit

Indian Express

4 days ago

'We can't step out on duty. If someone calls to lodge a complaint, how will we respond to it?' said a police officer at the Khajuri Khas police station in Northeast Delhi, pointing to the murky water that's seeped into the premises.
The scene outside is no better. Tyres of police vans parked along the road are half-submerged in the stagnant water.
At the end of the road, one can spot a blue board that reads 'Delhi Development Authority. Thank you for visiting facilitation centre, Khajoori Khas.' From this point onward, drain water has flooded a 200-metre long stretch, extending from the DDA board to Shriram Colony and Sonia Vihar.
This has been the situation for the past nine months owing to blocked drains, say residents of the area. The government has hired workers to pump out the water and deployed an earthmover to remove slabs covering drains — but nothing has worked.
The area has turned into a motorist's nightmare. Drivers on two-wheelers are forced to lift their legs to dodge piles of floating garbage — sanitary napkins, diapers, vegetable waste, polythene bags, the occasional fallen branch — as they navigate the road.
E-rickshaws fare even worse; their vehicles stall multiple times, forcing the drivers to halt.
Deep Mala, a resident of Shriram Colony who runs a snacks shop nearby, says the situation has persisted since Diwali last year. 'Due to the waterlogging, we have to take our kids to school through a different route, which is very narrow and crowded. Many children have fallen trying to cross the stretch.'
She adds that the water is pumped out, only to return by morning — and sometimes, it's knee-deep. 'During the elections, the road was fine. But look at the situation now,' she adds.
Deepak Gaur, an advocate who works at the Karkardooma Court, complains that the elected representatives lack the political will to tackle the mess. 'The people say many lakhs have been spent here… that this area is under a responsible minister of the government but people of his area are still facing trouble,' he claims.
An official who is part of a private company hired by the government to pump out the water explains the reason behind the persistent problem. 'While constructing the Delhi-Dehradun Expressway, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) laid drainage pipes at a depth of 8 to 9 feet. However, the existing drainage pipes are positioned at just 6 feet. As a result, there is backflow of drain water, which spills onto the roads,' he says on condition of anonymity.
On the other end of the waterlogged road are small businesses — and piles of garbage. Flies hover around, and a foul smell hangs in the air.
Devyansh Kaushik, who has been running a bakery for the last eight years, says the waterlogging has affected his business as vehicles carrying goods can't cross the stretch. 'Salesmen are not coming to the shop, their vehicles stop in between. We have sent multiple complaints. (Area MLA) Kapil Mishra came once before the elections, but he never visited again,' he gripes.
'Par aayenge bhi kaise? (But how will he even come?),' he says, adding that garbage is also picked up only twice a month.
A customer, who lives in the area, says he is ashamed to call his relatives home. 'They come here and comment on the area I'm living in. Property rates have dropped. People have started falling ill,' he says.
Down the road, a vendor selling chhole kulche on his bicycle sits on a slab near an open drain. He says he has fallen several times trying to cycle through the water. 'I get treated each time… now even the doctor asks, 'Have you come again?''
Gaurav Sagar, 24, an e-rickshaw driver, says he got stuck in a two-hour-long traffic jam after he had to take the long route to escape the waterlogged road. 'I had to push my vehicle multiple times after the motor got damaged due to water entering it. I have lost my business,' he adds.
When contacted, Kapil Mishra, who is also Delhi Minister for Art and Culture, tells The Indian Express over a phone call that work is on to clear the water.
'For a temporary solution, drains are being cleared, which will take three-four days. For a permanent solution, Rs 20 crore has been given to the Irrigation and Flood Control (I&FC) Department to build an open drain; this will solve the problem since there is a massive blockage there,' he says, adding that a lot of waste comes from the 103 Bn RAF CRPF Training School and blocks of Sonia Vihar.
Arun Tiwari, who works with the minister in the constituency, says the main problem is the pipes laid by the NHAI. 'From the time Mishra won (the Delhi election), we have been pumping out water. But the monsoon made it worse… We have asked NHAI to remove some of the pipes… Now, the I&FC Department is breaking the pipes. An open drain will be built after the monsoon. Until then, the water is being pumped out.'
Official sources in the NHAI, however, say the pipe drain constructed by the road authority along the National Highway — from the CRPF camp to Khajuri road along the Relief drain of I&FCD — functioned well for a year. But it got choked due to continuous discharge of domestic waste from nearby colonies, silt, and sewage water.
'The disposal of garbage and sewage from adjacent habitations choked the manholes and drain pipes,' an NHAI official says, adding that the NHAI has signed an MoU with the I&FC Department to remodel the drain.