Heavy rain alert: City mobilises pumps, super-sucker machines

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 30

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 IMD has predicted heavy rains in Delhi and has put the city on “orange alert” till July 2.

Meanwhile, the Delhi Government on Sunday announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh for families of those who lost their lives in the extreme rainfall on June 28.

Water Minister Atishi instructed ACS Revenue to “immediately identify the victims with the help of area hospitals and Delhi Police and provide compensation to the victims on behalf of the government”.

Multiple parts of Delhi were waterlogged, resulting in loss of life and disruption of normalcy. The death toll reached 11 after the first two days of the monsoon. On Saturday alone, six people died, including four children. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) reported that Delhi received 228.1 mm of rainfall on June 28.

On Saturday, two boys drowned in a waterlogged underpass in Badli, North West Delhi, with the entire road inundated due to heavy rains. The Capital recorded a maximum temperature of 37.1°C on Sunday.

The weather department recorded 9 mm of rain in the city on Sunday, with humidity at 60 per cent at 5.30 pm.

The weather department predicted overcast conditions and heavy rain on Monday and Tuesday, adding that heavy rains at isolated places in Delhi and adjoining states are likely until July 4. The department also forecast moderate rain and thunderstorms accompanied by gusty winds on Sunday night.

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.

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 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 said.

According to the NDMC, superintending engineers are now overseeing operations at vulnerable points to ensure timely interventions.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi has put its field units on high alert to deal with any such situation. A senior official of the civic body said their central control room is functioning round the clock and claimed that the de-silting of drains has been completed.

Mobile pumps, super sucker machines, earth movers and other machines have been deployed at various locations where waterlogging was reported through dedicated 24x7 zonal control rooms of the MCD, the official said.

“In total, 72 permanent pumping stations are working as per requirement. Additionally, 465 mobile/submersible pumps of different capacities were made available to clear waterlogging. Manpower was adequately deployed also in tandem with machines for quick and sustained release of water,” he said.

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