Due to monsoon rains, many areas of the capital Delhi and Gurugram turn into rivers. The roads are filled with waist-deep water. On July 27 last month, three students preparing for UPSC were killed in the incident in Old Rajendra Nagar. In such a situation, the question is why Delhi gets submerged even with a little rain. Regarding this, experts say that rain drains are the backbone of metros and modern cities, which drain out rain water throughout the day, but if we talk about Delhi, separate rain drains are built to drain out rain water from the city. There is no network.
Architect and town planner Archit Pratap Singh said that an ideal example of rain drains can be seen in Noida, where a network of rain drains is spread over about 89 kilometers. This network of rain drains takes out the water accumulated in the city and drains it into a nearby river or canal. These are specially designed for rain water, hence they are not connected to underground sewage drains anywhere. As a result, drains never get clogged due to excessive dumping and dumping of garbage. Storm drains are laid during the foundation of the city.
‘Storm drain is essential for urban infrastructure’
According to Archit Pratap Singh, storm drain is very important for urban infrastructure. Which are designed to manage and remove excess rainwater from roads, footpaths and buildings. Storm drains prevent floods and also reduce waterlogging. Storm drains also play an important role in maintaining the efficiency and safety of the city. He said that the incident in Old Rajendra Nagar happened due to lack of proper arrangement for drainage of rain water. Archit said that there is no such drain network in Delhi and Gurugram from which rain water can be drained. Whenever there is heavy rain, a clear difference can be seen between these two cities and Noida.
Drain network is necessary for people’s safety
Experts said that due to lack of storm drain in Delhi, severe waterlogging often occurs during monsoon. Without a good storm water management system, city roads quickly get filled with rain water, causing disruption to traffic and damage to property. There are health risks too. Archit said that effective storm drains are important for the safety of Delhi’s urban environment and people. Through this, rain water can be easily drained. In contrast, Noida has a well-established network of drains, which keeps Noida safe from waterlogging problems.
There is better drainage system in Noida
Noida architect Akhil Sharma said that roads, sewage, storm drains, electricity and water supply are the major infrastructure facilities which are created before laying the foundation of any new city. In Noida and other big cities where such drains have been built, waterlogging is rarely seen, because the drains are free from garbage and silt, the reason for this is that they are not connected to sewage drains anywhere. In case of old cities, draining out rain water becomes a challenge.
Different methods of making rain drains
Archit Pratap Singh said that there are ways to make separate storm drains in the existing city, but it is very important to separate the sewage from the rain drains. If both the drains are connected or there is no rain drain then there will be dependence of rain water on regular drains, regular drains or sewage drains are not sufficient to drain this much water as the quantity of sewage remains almost the same every day. Is. Also, due to poor maintenance and silt and garbage flowing into the drains, the capacity of the sewage drain reduces significantly.