New Delhi: Winter has tightened its grip on Delhi, long after the monsoon drained away and the Yamuna retreated to its lean seasonal channel. But in Shaheen Bagh, water refuses to recede. Near Okhla’s N Block, a stretch of over 100 metres has once again turned into what residents describe as a dangerous, open manhole. Dark, foul-smelling water blankets most of the road, carrying floating plastic, food waste and an oily sheen. The drain has merged invisibly with the carriageway, making it impossible to distinguish where the road ends and open sewers begin.
“Several vehicles have broken down here in the past few weeks,” Mohammed Aslam, a Shaheen Bagh resident. A fruit seller fallen into open drains. People have been injured. Accidents are waiting to happen.”
Two-wheelers cautiously splash through the water, riders guessing their way forward. Auto and e-rickshaw drivers frequently refuse to enter the stretch unless paid extra. Pedestrians pause, calculate, and often turn back. What is officially a local road now functions only for SUVs and trucks with high ground clearance; smaller cars hesitate, especially after dark, fearing engine and brake damage.
On municipal maps, it is an ordinary connector between Okhla and Shaheen Bagh. On the ground, it is one of the area’s most critical arteries. Thousands depend on it daily office-goers heading towards Kalindi Kunj, students walking to coaching centres, daily-wage workers travelling to nearby markets, and funeral processions bound for a local burial ground. For women, children and the elderly, the road has become an obstacle course. “This is no longer monsoon water,” said a women, who lives in an adjacent 4 number lane. “We are watching this for years. We have to do mental preparation before coming here it is a tasks to cross this area.”
Parents report persistent health problems linked to prolonged waterlogging. Children complain of itching and rashes; fevers and stomach infections recur. The Shaheen Bagh police station stands just metres away. Residents say repeated complaints to the MCD including by the police station have yielded no lasting solution.
The crisis also threatens the Gore Ghabiran Muslim graveyard that runs alongside the flooded stretch. Its caretaker, Mufti Abdul Raziq, said water regularly collects against the boundary wall. “I have informed both the councillor and the MLA several times. Nothing happened,” he said, warning that the wall is again at risk of collapse. Two years ago, a section gave way after prolonged water damage, forcing repairs worth lakhs, raised through community donations.
Funeral processions are often forced to halt before the gate. “The procession is on foot, and entering this impure drain water breaks their wudhu,” he said. “This is not just a road problem.”
In the absence of official intervention, residents have stepped in themselves. During the August monsoon, locals pooled Rs 50,000 to hire private workers to clean a choked sewer after appeals to the local MLA and councillor went unanswered. “We pay twice,” said a resident, who was part of the effort. “Once by wading through flooded neighbourhoods. Then from our own pockets.”
For residents like Bilal, living near Okhla, the hardship is daily and personal. He described taking longer routes each morning to avoid the “nasty nala conditions”, where industrial and human waste spill onto the road. “No MCD official takes responsibility,” he said. “Whenever we question them, they are ready with new excuses.”
The physical distress is compounded by a political blame game. Former Congress MLA Asif Muhammad Khan and councillor Ariba Khan have blamed AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan for flawed sewer planning, alleging that excess water from the Okhla tank was diverted into the Shaheen Bagh Abul Fazal drain beyond its capacity. Ariba Khan has warned that further releases could flood homes and basements in Shaheen Bagh and Abul Fazal Enclave.
AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan said a long-term solution is being worked out, adding that pollution-related restrictions in December delayed work. Residents, however, remain unconvinced. Meetings have been held, protests staged, assurances given but on the ground, the water remains.