A survey conducted by LocalCircles found that 86 per cent of the people have claimed that their district gets waterlogged during the monsoon season which leads to traffic woes, loss of productivity and accidents.
The finding of the survey was released on a day when Delhi received its first monsoon showers that brought traffic to screeching halt and led to waterlogging.
To understand the extent of waterlogging and of how life of people gets negatively impacted due to it, LocalCircles, a communtiy social media platform, conducted a national survey that got over 29,000 responses from citizens residing in 304 districts of India.
In response to the question of whether their districts get water logging problems in the monsoon season, the majority -- 53 per cent of the citizens said, “Yes, quite badly” and 33 per cent said “Yes, somewhat”, according to a statement. A mere seven per cent of the respondents said, “No, we do not get water logged as the drainage system is good”, while five per cent said, “No, we do not get waterlogged as local bodies are proactive”, the statement said, adding that two per cent of the people remained undecided.
“On an aggregate basis, 86 per cent of citizens surveyed said their city/district gets water logged during the monsoon season,” it said. The respondents were also asked about the issues faced due to waterlogging.
In response, 76 per cent said they ended up spending much more time in traffic while 52 per cent reported loss of working hours or productivity. Nearly fifty-four per cent said they have to face vehicle wear and tear and related costs while 57 per cent blamed waterlogging for increasing the risk of accidents, the statement said.
On an aggregate basis, water logging in cities or district is leading to people spending more time in traffic, lost productivity, increased vehicle wear and tear and more accidents, it added.
“On a day when streets are waterlogged, 76 per cent of the people said they end up spending much more time in traffic. In areas like Delhi NCR or Mumbai region where many travel for an hour or more to get to work, many relying on public transport end up losing working hours and their livelihoods. “With 86 per cent people explicitly stating that their city or district experiences water logging, the writing is on the wall. India needs liveable cities with effective drainage systems and not smart cities that take decades to build,” it said. The survey said that 67 per cent of the respondents were men while 33 per cent respondents were women.