Delhi's drainage system not designed to withstand so much rain, says Arvind Kejriwal

Amid unprecedented rainfall in the national capital, which causes numerous roads to submerge under knee-deep water and prompted the closure of schools, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said that the drainage system is not designed to tackle such a high level of rainfall.

Addressing the media, Kejriwal after holding a meeting over the torrential rains and the rising Yamuna water levels, said that evacuation of people from low-lying areas around Yamuna will start once the river touches the 206-metre mark. He also assured people the flood situation might not arise in the national capital.

VIDEO | “Delhi received unprecedented level of rainfall. (Drainage) System of Delhi is not designed to tackle such a high level of rainfall,” says Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal on waterlogging across the city. pic.twitter.com/3Ra6CqHy1I

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) July 10, 2023

Torrential rain has unleashed havoc across northern India, resulting in the tragic loss of at least 22 lives and unleashing landslides and flash floods in the region.

The CM said that the government was closely monitoring the situation and was fully prepared to tackle it.

“The unprecedented rain caused problems to people and Delhi’s system was not able to withstand it. Every year after rainfall, some vulnerable areas are waterlogged and the water is drained out in a couple of hours. But the 153 mm of rainfall was unprecedented and an event which happened in nearly 40 years,” he said.

The Yamuna on Monday inched closer to the warning mark in Delhi as Haryana released more water into the river from the Hathnikund barrage amid persistent rains in the upper catchment areas.

According to a flood bulletin, the water level at the Old Railway Bridge increased from 203.18 metres at 1 pm on Sunday to 203.58 metres at 10 am on Monday. The warning level is 204.5 metres.

The water level is anticipated to rise to 205.5 metres between 10 am and 12 noon on Tuesday, crossing the danger mark of 205.33 metres.

The chief minister said they were in touch with the Central Water Commission and asserted that weather predictions indicate that even though there will be more rains, they would not be quite heavy.

“Due to rains, there might have been some potholes that could have formed on roads. They will be filled with stones to avert any untoward incident. We have also ordered an inquiry into incidents of road cave-in. The area under New Delhi Municipal Council, which is a VVIP area, witnessed waterlogging. We have asked them (NDMC) to resolve the issues,” he said.

Floods across India caused a total of 656 deaths in 2021, down from some 959 deaths recorded last year. Over the last decade, the highest number of deaths due to floods across the country was in 2010, with a death toll of 965 people, according to statista.com.

India’s meteorological department has predicted more rain across significant portions of northern India in the forthcoming days. The summer monsoon, responsible for supplying 70-80% of South Asia’s annual rainfall, also brings with it the unfortunate consequences of flooding and landslides.

While forecasting the exact patterns of such rainfall remains challenging due to its erratic nature, scientists assert that climate change is amplifying the strength and unpredictability of the monsoon.

With inputs from PTI