L-G holds emergency meet, officials’ leave cancelled; govt to set up 24-hr control room

New Delhi: Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena on Friday took stock of the situation in Delhi after hours-long rain brought the city to a standstill and directed officials to set up an emergency control room and deploy static pumps to address waterlogging reports.

Chairing an emergency meeting, the L-G said all senior officers on leave should be asked to report back to duty immediately and no leave should be sanctioned for the next two months, according to his office.

In a post on ‘X’, Saxena said the heads of departments have been directed to ensure immediate steps to ease the situation and strictly implement measures to mitigate its recurrence.

“It is shocking that the Flood Control Order and desilting of drains that should have been issued and completed by 15.06.24 are yet pending. The Flood Control Order, normally issued after the Apex Committee meeting chaired by the Hon’ble CM is pending with the Hon’ble Minister,” he said in another post. According to the L-G office, Saxena also took note of the lack of preparedness and an emergency response system in the national capital. He asked the officials to undertake the drain de-silting work on an emergency basis over the next week. The L-G asked officials to set up an emergency control room for waterlogging complaints. The control room should be manned round the clock by senior officials, it said.

In a series of directions, Saxena asked for functional static pumps with deployment of field staff by agencies, use of mobile pumps in low-lying areas like unauthorised colonies, regular traffic advisories on waterlogging and preventive measures by power discoms so that there were no open electricity wires and incidents of short circuit.

The Irrigation and Flood Control Department was directed to remain in touch with their counterparts in Haryana and Himachal Pradesh to assess rainfall levels and water discharges from the Hathnikund barrage, officials said.

The Delhi government will set up a 24-hour control room to monitor the waterlogging situation in the national Capital, minister Saurabh Bharadwaj announced on Friday.

Bharadwaj and his ministerial colleagues Atishi, Gopal Rai and Imran Hussain held an emergency meeting in the afternoon to take stock of the situation after a downpour in the early morning left Delhi waterlogged and brought traffic to a standstill in many areas.

“Delhi recorded 228 mm of rainfall in the past 24 hours which was the highest since 1936. It led to waterlogging,” Atishi told a press conference.

Talking about power cuts, Atishi said electricity supply was suspended in some areas to prevent electrocution.

Bharadwaj said a round-the-clock control room is being set up at the PWD headquarters where senior officials will be present to monitor the waterlogging situation. Delhi government has started WhatsApp chatbot number 8130188222 and helpline number 1800110093 to register waterlogging complaints, he added.