Delhi braces for heavy rains, officials ramp up preps to deal with waterlogging

IMD predicts heavy rains in Delhi and has put the city on "orange alert" till July 2

New Delhi: Boosting manpower and equipment deployment to address waterlogging and keeping field units on high alert are among the steps taken by civic bodies amid a prediction of heavy rains in Delhi till Tuesday.

The national capital was brought to its knees on Friday morning as 228.1 mm of rainfall on the first day of monsoon, the highest for the month of June since 1936, submerged several parts of the city and claimed multiple lives.

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The IMD has predicted heavy rains in Delhi and has put the city on “orange alert” till July 2. An official in the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) said the civic body has ramped up manpower deployment to handle waterlogging complaints and is monitoring areas under Lutyens’ Delhi through CCTV cameras.

On Friday, the upscale Lutyens’ Delhi area witnessed a flood-like situation as water entered the bungalows of many MPs. NDMC Vice-Chairman Satish Upadhyay said they have deployed four additional pumps on a standby basis at Golf Links and Bharti Nagar which witnessed excessive waterlogging on Friday.

“Three super suction machines mounted on vehicles will keep patrolling the vulnerable areas. We have also deployed additional staff and cancelled the offs of all employees.

“Each vulnerable area has been placed under one superintending engineer who has staffers with them to address issues. The NDMC central command and control room will monitor all vulnerable areas through CCTV cameras,” Upadhyay told PTI.

According to the NDMC, superintending engineers are now overseeing operations at vulnerable points to ensure timely interventions. “We will ensure 24-hour monitoring through CCTV cameras. CCTV cameras are in place for continuous monitoring of vulnerable areas,” another official said.

Mobile pumps, super sucker machines, earth movers and other machines have been deployed at various locations where waterlogging was reported through dedicated 24×7 zonal control rooms of the MCD, the official said. Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena on Saturday inspected the city’s most severely affected areas and drainage systems to assess the damage and oversee remedial measures.