Sadar Bazaar flooding exposes monsoon gaps
A video circulating on social media on Tuesday captures the state of Delhi’s monsoon preparedness more vividly than any Government report can. It shows a parent carrying a schoolchild on their shoulders through waist-deep water in Sadar Bazaar, one of the Capital’s largest wholesale markets, wading through murky, garbage-filled water that covers everything below the knee. AAP Delhi unit president Saurabh Bharadwaj posted it on X with a pointed message: “After Gen Z, now Gen Alpha too will remain indebted to the BJP.”
Heavy rain lashed Delhi on Tuesday, triggering widespread waterlogging, flooded markets, traffic gridlock across the city, and a fresh political confrontation between the ruling BJP and the Opposition AAP over who bears responsibility for a city that floods with reliable predictability every monsoon.
In Rajendra Nagar, a major coaching hub, water submerged the area entirely, with cars, motorcycles, and auto-rickshaws partially underwater. The images revived sharp memories of the July 2024 incident in which three civil services aspirants drowned after rainwater entered the basement of a coaching centre in the same neighbourhood. The coaching cluster has not been moved. The water came back.
In Sadar Bazaar, knee-deep water filled the narrow lanes. Murky water and floating garbage forced residents, shopkeepers, and schoolchildren to wade through the same stretches. Water entered several shops, disrupting business. Sadar Bazaar Traders’ Association president Paramjit Singh Pamma said the market remained waterlogged until evening, with several shops forced to shut and rainwater damaging goods stored inside. He said the timing could not be worse, with Janmashtami, Raksha Bandhan, and Independence Day approaching and the festive season inventory already in the markets.
Connaught Place and the adjoining Janpath market were also badly affected. According to the New Delhi Traders’ Association, G Block, A Block, and parts of the Outer Circle remained flooded and affected commercial activity until around 1 pm. The area had only recently reopened fully after a week of restrictions during the CJP protest at Jantar Mantar.
PWD Minister Parvesh Sahib Singh responded to the criticism by posting a video of traffic moving on Minto Bridge. “Rain is pouring relentlessly, but life on Minto Bridge is moving along at the same pace. The very effort is to ensure that monsoon remains just a season, not a trouble,” he said. Minto Bridge, which had been among Delhi’s most notorious waterlogging spots in previous years, remained functional. The government had previously cited a new additional drain at the underpass as the reason.
But the wider city told a different story. Traffic crawled across multiple arteries. A major snarl was reported on NH-09 near the Ghazipur border with UP. Congestion was recorded at ITO, Azadpur, Malviya Nagar, Prahladpur, and Kalindi Kunj. Waterlogging was reported from Tolstoy Marg, Bharat Mandapam Road, Hanuman Road, Malviya Nagar, and Mathura Road near ITO, where office-goers stood at bus stops amid knee-deep water.
More than 100 complaints related to waterlogging, fallen trees, and power outages were received by MCD, NDMC, and PWD. The India Meteorological Department issued a red alert for thunderstorms, lightning, and heavy rainfall over the next few hours and forecast intense spells of rain through the day.
Schools were affected too. The Principal and Vice Principal Association of Delhi Government Schools said students of the morning shift had already arrived before conditions worsened, while attendance in the afternoon shift, which begins at 1 pm, stood at around 50 percent.