Panchsheel Enclave Flooded

As Swati Shah had written in the cover story of last month’s issue, with the title “North India Sizzling”, people of Delhi , more of Panchsheel Enclave were praying for some rain and respite from the scorching heat and humidity. On 24th June, our prayers were answered and we had thunder and torrential rain. The colony was flooded within a few hours of the rain. The residents were calling me, sending messages   to do something as their houses with basements submerged in water. Mr. Puri of C-67 has been running pillar to post to get the sewer line in their lane re-laid, but to .no avail. Their basement got flooded with sewer water as there were no proper pipes to flow the rushed water down the drain. It left the basement stinking and   submerged. However,his problem is reportedly solved now. The rainfall was the worst in 88 years. Mrs. Karuna Makkar of D-Block called me up and wanted me to see the condition of their flooded ground floor, their laptops, electronic devices, furniture damaged and submerged in water. The gutter waste was floating in her house. There was short circuit and the situation was no less than scary. Rupa Khanna also messaged me about her suffering from dengue last monsoon season. Mrs. Agarwal of B-40 too reported water seeping into her kitchen, drawing room and almost the entire ground floor. Sarla Khosla of A-Block also reported the damage caused in her basement. She had to shell out Rs. 5000/- to get a pump and labour to throw water out of her basement. Lot of the houses were affected. Some houses flooded in ground floor, some by the terrace water rushing in the building. Many elevators were damaged due to water entering the shafts. We had to shell out Rs. 40000/- to Schindler to get our elevator repaired, as about 40-50 buckets of water entered the shaft of the elevator from the terrace and also damaged the software. We need to make arrangements for such severe climatic changes that are disrupting our lives. The boundaries from where the water rushes into the house also need to be raised. Climate change is here to stay and we must act fast to face it and to also preserve our nature.