Opinion: How To Solve Delhi's Monsoon Mess

Come rain and our cities are reduced to flooded and damaged roads, overflowing drainage, and stinking garbage piles - a living hell.

The root cause of the problem seems to be poor planning and unbridled unauthorised constructions, which have ruined lakes, swamps and drainage systems in cities. Flooding can't be solved merely by desilting drains. Neither can it be resolved by the blame game between state governments and civic bodies after every deluge. The lack of coordination between government departments and municipal corporations is evident as the cleaning, desilting of drains and the maintenance of civic infrastructure, which different departments oversee, are often ill-managed.

Over the years, the citizens of Delhi, Mumbai, and Chennai, along with those of newer metros like Bangalore, Pune, and Hyderabad, have been struggling with sewage-clogged roads, traffic nightmares and the loss of lives due to flooding, open manholes, and electrocution during monsoon. Cities in India are the propellers of economic growth and their contribution to GDP is around 60 per cent.

Anand Iyer, Chief Policy and Insights officer at Janagraaha, based in Delhi, says, "Not just the National Capital Region, many of our urban systems often grapple with chronic capacity constraints and work on needs-basis, with SOPs and checks, in a responsive mode. Rains are annual but the patterns are changing, making wider war-room coordination between departments, and in fact, a full planning reconsideration, imperative."

Heavy rain lashed the Delhi-NCR region in the past few days, causing floods, shutting down schools and disrupting normal life. A number of roads and underpasses, including the new Pragati Maidan tunnel, and Minto Bridge, were submerged in knee-deep water. The upscale parts of Lutyens' Delhi, the famous Khan market, and ministerial bungalows were in knee-deep water. Road cave-ins were democratically spread across the capital, not sparing VVIP areas.

Flooding is a normal, recurring phenomenon and the people of Delhi seem to be used to it.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal made a statement that the drainage system is not designed to tackle such high-intensity rainfall. The question is, why did he not realise it earlier? Is there no way to predict and prepare for such seasonal occurrences? Will a statement suffice in the absence of preparedness?

It is ironic that the government aspires to provide smart cities but the capital of India is devoid of basic sanitation, hygiene and upkeep of public areas befitting its status, even during normal, predictable monsoon. We have been proudly hosting G20 across cities, showcasing our 'development' to the international delegates, but we are not prepared to preempt and mitigate the aftereffects of a predictable rain.

Residents of embassies of over 100 countries see the sad state of affairs of our national capital, and instead of feeling embarrassed, the entire government machinery is busy passing the buck and shirking responsibility.  As usual, citizens suffer and complain within the confines of their homes. A few weeks of discomfort. The monsoon will get over. And this too shall pass. Life moves on. One year of inaction will lead to the repeat of the entire episode next year. Chalta hai seems to reflect our 'resilience', but isn't it the manifestation of our thick-skinned ignorance where mediocrity is the norm and accountability is absent?

Why is the solution elusive? Is the annual maintenance budget not allocated to the desilting and cleaning of drains? Is the design and size of drains outdated and incapable of taking the load of a growing population? Is the intent missing? Is political will subservient to the compulsions of the political economy? Why is it a norm to regularise unauthorized colonies constructed on encroached public drains to suit vote-bank politics? What could be the probable solutions?

"Apart from urgent relief in the immediate term, it is high time for preventive and systemic solutions. The stakes are high with Delhi likely to be the world's largest metropolis soon; it is also uniquely placed, having the strength of central, state and local bodies, and the best of technical knowledge and awareness. Climate change forces us to revisit planning and design considerations, not only of storm water drainage but also the city as a whole. The problem is regional but city authorities facing the risk of life and economy must be strengthened and empowered to operate fully towards the effects that are clearly located within their limits," adds Mr Anand.

The most widely acceptable solution is to modernize, redesign and reconstruct the drainage system and roads of Delhi. In 1976, IIT Delhi prepared the drainage master plan, which is still awaiting implementation despite the approval of several committees and governments over the last few decades. This procrastination has impacted generations of Delhiites.

Then comes the solution that is known to all but conveniently ignored by the political class - the decongestion of Delhi. Hundreds of unauthorized colonies, constructed illegally by encroaching upon drains, lakes and government land, have choked the city's infrastructure. There is no outlet for rainwater to pass through drains due to massive concretisation. A humongous exercise of cleaning up these structures and rehabilitating occupants needs to be strategically done. If not planned and executed properly, it will be a nightmare for law enforcement agencies.

Our country has seen expertise through the Public-Private-Partnership model, which is yielding results in the infrastructure sector. Construction, cleaning, desilting, repair, maintenance of the drainage system can be privatised by long-term contracts and supervised by government agencies. The inclusion of penalty clauses for inefficient service will ensure better maintenance than we see around us.

The CPWD, PWD, MCDs, NDMC, Delhi Metro, Delhi Cantonment Board, Delhi Jal Board, and DDA are all strong government bodies, capable of being effective on their own, but by design lack the ability to collaborate and coordinate with each other to effectively deliver for public good.
What Delhi needs is strong political will, joint coordination by government departments, planning and strong execution to overcome the recurrent pain inflicted on it every year.

(Bharti Mishra Nath is a senior journalist)

Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author