Heavy rain leaves Okhla roads waterlogged, triggers traffic jams, and stranded residents face fleecing by autos and e-rickshaws. Residents lament decade of civic neglect, reports Md Shadab Sarwar
On Wednesday morning, Delhiites woke up to a cool breeze and overcast skies as a heavy spell of monsoon rain lashed large parts of the city, including Okhla. For a moment, the showers brought much-needed respite but the relief was short-lived. Within hours, the downpour exposed Delhi’s and particularly Okhla’s perennial monsoon vulnerabilities, throwing daily life into complete disarray.
Many office-goers bore the brunt of the chaos during peak hours. Roads turned into rivers, underpasses into ponds, and public transport into a pricey gamble. Commuters struggled to navigate the waterlogged lanes of Jamia Nagar, Batla House, and Shaheen Bagh, with rickshaw and auto drivers charging exorbitant fares to ferry passengers through the inundated streets particularly in Batla House.
A working woman told the OT she was stranded at Batla House market, knee-deep in stagnant rainwater. “Auto drivers were demanding ₹50 just to cross the stretch of waterlogged road,” she said. Her ordeal lasted nearly half an hour until an e-rickshaw driver agreed to take her to Batla House graveyard for three times the usual fare. “I was lucky to find someone willing to go through the water and drop me near Jamia Millia Islamia Metro station so I could reach office,” she added.
Another resident of Batla House, who works in another part of Delhi, said he gave up on commuting to office altogether. “My lane was completely under water; there was no way to step out without wading through filthy knee-deep water,” said Syed Wasi Imam.
Across Jamia Nagar, similar stories unfolded. Streets in Zakir Nagar, Noor Nagar, Johri Farm and Abul Fazal Enclave were waterlogged within an hour of rain. “Every street looked like a drain, with cars stalled, children and elderly struggling to walk,” said Mohammad Shoaib, a resident of Sir Syed Road. He recounted seeing an e-rickshaw turn turtle in front of a school, narrowly missing a group of children.
The downpour, which began around 7:50 am, continued for over three hours, with a steady drizzle extending late into the morning. The city’s already inadequate drainage infrastructure buckled under the volume of rain, leaving vast stretches of Okhla submerged.
Batla House was among the worst affected. Residents there waded through knee-deep water on the main road as traffic snarled for hours. “My auto was stuck in the serpentine jam,” said one driver, “and all around me some three people were pushing their stalled cars, bikes, and e-rickshaws. Water entered all the way inside the auto. There’s no drainage system here; the entire Okhla is under water. I saw how people left their vehicles on the road as the stopped working.”
In Ghaffar Manzil, Haseeb, another resident, described the situation as “pathetic.”
“This is street number 10 and 12 even in normal days it’s crowded and today water has entered shops, submerged cars, and schoolchildren are forced to wade through dirty water. Even rickshaws have stopped coming here. In many buildings, the parking basements are completely flooded,” he said.
Social media platforms were flooded too not with rain, but with videos and images of Okhla’s plight. Residents took to Instagram, Facebook and X to share scenes of waterlogged streets, stranded vehicles, and filthy drains overflowing.
Shaheen Bagh’s famous 40 Foota Road, usually a bustling hub of street food vendors and diners, was reduced to a muddy, slushy mess. Stagnant water, strewn garbage and blocked drains left the area in a sorry state.
Among the most striking videos was one posted by Syed Azeem Fouzul, who had ventured out to drop his child to school in the morning when it was raining. In his video, he pointed to the flooded Hari Kothi Road, adjacent to Shaheen Bagh graveyard and Police Station, where the main drain was overflowing dangerously. “This drain is full,” he said in the video, panning to show water merging seamlessly with the street. “If someone unfamiliar say a taxi driver comes here, he won’t even realise where the drain is. One misstep and the vehicle could plunge into the open drain.”
Residents expressed deep frustration and anger over the civic apathy that leaves Okhla in ruins every monsoon. Many lamented that despite repeated complaints over the years, nothing has improved. “For 10 years we’ve been demanding better drainage and maintenance. Instead of improvement, things have only gotten worse,” said one elderly resident of Shaheen Bagh.
For now, Okhla’s residents are left to endure yet another monsoon marred by waterlogging, traffic jams, and disrupted lives a grim reminder that the rain, though welcome, remain a curse for those living in the city’s most neglected pockets.
Residents of Jamia Nagar continue to voice deep frustration over the worsening condition of their locality during the monsoon season, lamenting that decades of civic neglect and broken promises by leaders have only made things worse. Despite repeated assurances of improvement, they said the ground reality has barely changed in the last more than twenty years or so.
Mohammad Shoaib described the situation as “perennial and dangerous”, pointing out that several roads, dug up months ago for sewer-laying work, remain in a pathetic state. “After every spell of rain, these roads turn into waterlogged traps. You can’t tell whether there are potholes, open manholes, or worse underneath. This leads to frequent accidents, especially involving children and the elderly who unknowingly step into invisible hazards,” he said.
Recounting a recent incident, another resident Haseeb said just a few days ago, an e-rickshaw overturned in Ghaffar Manzil due to a hidden pothole submerged under rainwater and covered with building waste. “The driver couldn’t see the pothole because the entire stretch was flooded. He lost control and the rickshaw turned turtle. Thankfully, no one was seriously injured,” he said.
Also, residents pointed out that even newly constructed road is not spared. “The road built just a year ago has already deteriorated,” said another local. “The surface is broken, riddled with potholes, and during rains, it becomes a death trap for two-wheelers and e-rickshaws. Several accidents have occurred simply because drivers can’t judge what’s under the water.”
Locals say such incidents are not isolated but routine, highlighting a systemic failure in urban planning, drainage, and road maintenance. “Until accountability is fixed and work is done with quality and intent, we’ll keep witnessing these monsoon horrors year after year,” said Shoaib.
