Civic bodies step up measures as capital awaits monsoon winds

LAST year's Delhi deluge still fresh in our minds, civic bodies in the capital city are gearing up to address waterlogging issues ahead of the onset of monsoon rains, expected to arrive by the end of the month.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast heavy to very heavy rain in the national capital over the weekend, thus bringing relief from the prolonged periods of intense heatwave that prevailed in the city. Skymet, a private weather agency, too predicted that monsoon winds are likely to arrive in Delhi by the end of this week, easing the sultry conditions.

The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has established six control rooms equipped with over 160 pumps to prevent waterlogging in Lutyens' Delhi. Officials have installed CCTV cameras at all waterlogging hotspots, with the feed monitored at the Integrated Command Control Centre at Palika Kendra.