The tragic deaths of three UPSC aspirants in the basement of a coaching institute in Delhi's Old Rajinder Nagar have shocked the nation and raised critical concerns over urban flooding and the safety of students living in the city. The victims were killed due to severe waterlogging in the basement of Rau’s IAS Study Circle, where a library was illegally operating. This incident has brought Delhi's outdated drainage system, based on a master plan from 1976, back into the spotlight.
Urban Flooding: An Endemic Problem
Urban flooding is not unique to Delhi; it impacts several cities across India. However, Delhi's reliance on a drainage master plan made in 1976, which can handle only up to 50 mm of rainfall, is a significant contributor to its flooding woes. This plan was designed when the city's population was around 60 lakh, but the population has since quadrupled. Consequently, the drainage infrastructure has not kept pace with the city's growth and increased concretization, resulting in more runoff water than the system can handle.
Immediate measures to curb urban flooding
The tragic incident at Rau’s IAS Study Circle is a stark reminder of the urgent need to overhaul Delhi's drainage infrastructure. Modernizing the drainage system, enforcing stringent building regulations, and enhancing urban planning are critical to preventing such tragedies in the future.
- Drain Cleaning and Widening: Governments must prioritize cleaning and widening drains before the monsoon season. Drains should be built along all streets, ensuring they are wide enough to prevent waterlogging.
- Preventing Blockages: Authorities should implement measures such as installing meshes over drains to prevent large debris and plastics from clogging the system.
- Enhancing Percolation: Encouraging water percolation from homes into the ground and ensuring that parks and open spaces can act as water sinks are crucial steps. Reviving water bodies can also help in managing excess rainwater.
- Construction Regulations: Stopping construction activities that obstruct water flow and introducing retro-planning with incentives like tax rebates could help in managing urban flooding better.
Political Reactions and Blame Game
Meanwhile, the deaths of the three civil-service aspirants have led to a political blame game between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), with each party accusing the other of neglect and mismanagement. While the ruling Aam Aadmi Party, which also controls the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, shifts out the blame to the BJP with standard excuses of being deprived of powers for effective administration, the BJP, on the other hand, hits out at the AAP government for “criminal negligence” and “lack of desilting," which led to these deaths. Moreover, amid this, what should remain the point of discussion is that despite the recorded 58 mm of rainfall on the day of the incident—a not unusual amount during monsoon season—the outdated drainage system failed to cope, underscoring the urgent need for infrastructure upgrades.
READ MORE | Delhi Police seeks MCD report on desilting of drains near Rau's IAS coaching centre
READ MORE | Delhi IAS Institute flooding case: What FIR in tragedy reveals | Here's full detail
