A plan to clear waterlogged areas during the G20 Summit was put into action on Saturday night and Sunday morning after some areas of Delhi, including a section of the Bharat Mandapam, were left waterlogged after an overnight rainfall in the city, The Indian Express reported.
The downpour, which started during the dinner hosted by President Draupadi Murmu at the G20 Summit venue, caused alarm bells to go off. The officials at Raj Niwas said that water from the main venue and other prone areas was drained within 15 minutes at night. The following morning water had again collected near the main gates of the ITPO complex.
As per a senior official at the NBCC (India), the government-owned construction firm that built the site, waterlogging was caused due to the overnight rain and that all the water was drained by around 6 am. They also said that there had been no blockages or any other issues with the drainage.
Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena, who was monitoring the workings of certain departments (including the PWD, MCD and NDMC), was informed of the waterlogging at gate number 5 and 6 at 5 am, Raj Niwas officials said. “Heavy-duty contingency pumps were deployed for this purpose. When dignitaries arrived at the venue at 10 am for the second-day session, the area was clean, green and spruced up as it was before,” the official said.
A dewatering machine, which was borrowed from Ahmedabad, was also brought in. However, it was not used as only a small quantity of water had accumulated.
An India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) official said that some water had accumulated in front of the pathway to Hall 5 due to the early hours rain on Sunday. “Multiple machines and manpower were deployed simultaneously. The water was drained out immediately,” the official added.
Opposition hits out at government
The opposition parties and leaders had hit out at the government after a video showing water inside Bharat Mandapam was posted online. Congress took to X, formerly Twitter, to say that “hollow development” had been exposed.
Delhi’s Urban Development Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj also tagged L-G VK Saxena in a post on X and said, “This is very serious. Even after (your) 50+ inspections, if the very main area around Mandapam is submerged in water, then heads must roll. I as Minister of Delhi don’t have control over this Central Govt area, else would have assisted you, sir.”
However, the NBCC clarified that the video was taken around 3 am – 4 am and that its staff was working at the site all night. The water was cleared by 6 am using pumps.
PIB also took to Twitter to call the waterlogging claim at the site “exaggerated and misleading”. “Minor water logging in open areas was swiftly cleared as pumps were pressed into action after overnight rains,” it added.