Tussles between civic agencies, the Public Works Department and Traffic Police has ensured that once again this year, little has been achieved
Delhi has in the last one month witnessed ample amount of rainfall, bringing relief to residents from the humidity, but this has also exposed the Capital's inefficiency to deal with the civic mess. Most of the popular roads in the Capital complained of heavy water-logging resulting in hour-long traffic jams.
As a part of their regular exercise, the Delhi Traffic Police, had informed the civic agencies about the 370 points in the Capital that have repeatedly reported waterlogging due to rain.
"These areas should have been given special attention. Every year, we received complaints from these areas. We issue an advisory every monsoon season just to prevent waterlogging again," said a senior official from the traffic police.
Sources in the department allege that even after flagging the civic agencies, no work was done to improve the condition of roads in the capital.
The worst affected areas include the Ring Road, Defence Colony, South Extension, Nehru Place, Sarai Kale Khan, Okhla junction and the Outer Ring Road. "There is a never ending jam on Delhi roads during the monsoon season.
The roads are bumpy and the potholes are not even taken care of. I prefer taking a metro rather than going by my office cab," said Arushi Singh, a resident of Laxmi Nagar in east Delhi.
According to the officials, the multiplicity of the agencies in dealing with the issue is one of the major causes for the delay.
"No one is ready to take the blame. The MCD says it has completed their work, while the traffic police puts it on the civic agency. When there are so many agencies involved, how can the problem be solved?" said a senior official from the Public Works Department (PWD).
According to official statistics, the PWD received 1,352 road-related (potholes, broken footpaths etc) complaints this month — till July 26. In June, the department received 992 complaints. Additionally, the PWD got 827 complaints related to waterlogging this month, till July 26. It got 924 such complaints in June.
Analysis
Waterlogging is a problem and the multiplicity of agencies and their inability to work together has ensured that little has been done to free up Delhi’s roads.
The stagnant water can also lead to a health crisis as it is a perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes.
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