Lutyens Delhi inundated yet again

As rain battered down on the national capital on Wednesday night, hundreds of photos and videos started appearing on social media, showing visuals of a waterlogged Lutyens Delhi. The road outside Makar Dwar at the new Parliament complex, corridors of Connaught Place, court complexes, social clubs — it seemed that there was no area of the New Delhi area that was not submerged.
But the visuals were nothing new — just a few days earlier, on July 26, parts of New Delhi were inundated by rainwater on a day that the city played host to World Heritage Committee meeting, with delegates from several countries present. Before that, on June 28, a heavy downpour had virtually brought New Delhi to a standstill.
Which begs the question — despite being one of the best planned, and highest tax-paying area of the country, why are such episodes in Lutyens Delhi becoming increasingly frequent?
How NDMC’s drainage works
The drainage system of the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), which oversees the New Delhi area, lies between the Ridge on the west and Yamuna on the east, marked by Ring Road on the south. Most of its drainage channels fall into the Kushak drain and Sunehri Pul drain, which join the Barapullah drain before reaching the Yamuna.
In addition, drainage from NDMC areas north of India Gate fall directly into Yamuna through Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) drain systems.
A senior NDMC official who was overseeing the drainage of the area said that the primary problem that Lutyens Delhi faces is construction on the Barapullah drain.
“Due to construction work related to the extension of the Barapullah flyover and the Delhi–Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS), the width of the drain has become narrow at multiple sections. From INA till the outfall in Yamuna, a bottleneck has developed, which leads to a backflow of water whenever it rains heavily,” the official said, on condition of anonymity.
A second official said episodes of waterlogging have increased with multiple major infrastructure projects like the Pragati Maidan integrated corridor, the Barapullah flyover, and the RRTS coming up near the drainage system. “There is a topography problem near Panchkuian Road which leads to a slow outflow of water from Connaught Place towards Karol Bagh. The run-off from Parliament and the surrounding area goes towards the Purana Qila drain near Dyal Singh College,” the official said, also declining to be named.
“The NDMC area was receiving surface excess run-off water from MCD areas from ITO, Yusuf Sarai-AIIMS, and Karol Bagh due to New Delhi being in a low-lying region,” the second official said.
NDMC vice-chairman Satish Upadhyay, however, claimed that the situation was effectively managed.
“NDMC areas saw rainfall of approximately 110 mm… While some areas experienced waterlogging, the situation was effectively managed by deploying a dedicated team equipped with sufficient pumps. Additionally, there were tree fall complaints from the Outer Circle of Connaught Place, and Sarojini Nagar. Vulnerable points like Africa Avenue, Bharti Nagar, and Golf Link are under control,” he said.
Locals bear the brunt
NDMC officials may pat themselves on the back over what they feel is a job well done, but residents and traders in Lutyens Delhi are less than impressed.
Gopal Krishna, who heads the New Delhi RWA federation, and is a resident of the area since 1974, said historically, NDMC areas used to have only two points where waterlogging during rains would be a problem — the Minto Bridge underpass and Tilak Bridge.
“The drainage system has clearly not been upgraded with time. A few days back, water reached underground wiring near Bengali Market, and it took them two days to repair it,” Krishna said.
Amit Gupta, a member of New Delhi Traders Association, said several corridors and parking areas of Connaught Place were flooded on Wednesday night, and in some cases, water even entered shops.
“Water was flowing back from Panchkuian Road. Waterlogging was reported from the A block, Middle Circle, H block, and G block, and many shops have suffered damages. The Middle Circle has a service tunnel with electrical facilities. It seems like we are sitting on a ticking bomb,” Gupta said.
The second NDMC official said that the entire drainage system of New Delhi and drainage discharge has been studied to identify vulnerable spots. “We estimate that around ₹1600 crore would be spent on the rehabilitation and strengthening work in the drainage sub system… The work will have to be carried out in many phases,” the official said.
Future plan: Underground reservoirs
A third NDMC official said that in the long term, the council plans to set up large underground reservoirs near the Purana Qila Road green belt, where a sump well will also be developed with a pump house.
“This reservoir will act as a cushion between the slow outflow of the NDMC drainage system and the Yamuna. The flow is slow due to a topography difference between the old brick barrel drain and the new concrete drain. In addition, to prevent waterlogging at Golf Link Road and Bharti Nagar, a site has been proposed for development of a pumping station, the third official said.