As pandemonium broke out in Delhi, heavy rain in the city, highest in a single day of June in 88 years, prompted the Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar and AAP government on Friday to take stock of the situation.

Saxena took stock of the situation in Delhi and directed officials to set up an emergency control room and deploy static pumps to address waterlogging reports. Chairing an emergency meeting, the LG said that 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.

Senior officers of civic agencies like Delhi Jal Board, Public Works Department, Municipal Corporation of Delhi, Delhi Development Authority, Irrigation and Flood Control department and the Delhi Police attended the meeting.

Saxena noted that the desilting of drains had not been completed and the Flood Control Order was yet to be issued and asked the officials to undertake the desilting work on an emergent basis over the next week.

An emergency control room will be established, to be manned 24x7 by senior officials from all the concerned departments. “Wide publicity of control room number be given for common citizens to make telephonic calls to report incidents of waterlogging,” it said.

He also directed various agencies to deploy static pumps and field staff to drain water from roads. 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 discharges from the Hathnikund barrage.

The LG directed the revenue department to activate the disaster response cell under the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) in case of excess rainfall and seek assistance of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) for any emergency measures during the monsoon.

Meanwhile, Delhi Ministers including Saurabh Bharadwaj, Atishi, Gopal Rai and Imran Hussain held an emergency meeting in the afternoon and announced that the Delhi government will set up a 24-hour control room to monitor the waterlogging situation.

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.