Forgotten for 15 years, Delhi drain which led to waterlogging found

On June 28, the Capital logged 230 mm rain, and south Delhi was flooded. Searching for the cause led agencies to a drain lying unattended since 2009

- Snehil Sinha

NEW DELHI: A mystery drain, the existence of which everyone had forgotten for 15 years, and which, as a result, had not been cleaned for that span of time, was responsible for the flooding seen in tony south Delhi neighbourhoods such as Hauz Khas, Vasant Kunj and Malviya Nagar after the Capital received 230 millimetres (mm) of rain in 24 hours till 8.30am on June 28.

The multiple agencies responsible for the maintenance of the Capital's drainage system scrambled to find out the cause of the flooding. They did find it eventually—a drain no one knew about.

And it was a discovery that led to more questions, and highlighted how easy it is for things to fall between the cracks in a Union territory with multiple agencies responsible for the same thing in different parts of the city.

"We found that there was a huge drain under Sri Aurobindo Marg. There were four large drain pipes, each over one-metre wide that we found were laid by Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC). The work was done well, which is why it could take sewer and water run-off for over 15 years without getting choked. However, it was surprising that no agency knew about its existence or was maintaining it for so many years," said an official from the Public Works Department (PWD), who asked not to be named.