Amid Rajinder Nagar Basement Death, Defence Colony Is The Next Riskiest Place In Delhi Holding Largest Basements In The Area.

3 students die in Delhi after basement flooding. People died in Jaipur basements flooding. These events have underscored the pressing safety issues associated with basements all over India, particularly in Delhi. The tragic death that occurred in a basement in Rajinder Nagar has heightened awareness about the potential dangers of these subterranean spaces. In the wake of this incident, attention is now turning to Defence Colony, an area known for its substantial and numerous basements. This article explores the risks associated with these basements and why the Defence Colony is now considered one of the riskiest areas in Delhi.

Defence Colony: A Hub of Large Basements.

Defence Colony, an upscale residential neighbourhood in Delhi, is known for its extensive properties and expansive basements. The area boasts some of the most extensive basements in the city, often used for luxurious living spaces, entertainment areas, and storage. While these large basements offer considerable merits, they also have unique risks.

From Defence Colony to Vasant Kunj and Jangpura, upmarket neighbourhoods throughout the capital awake to roads clogged with water. Delhi had a severe period of rain with the arrival of the monsoon, and many households complained about drainage leakage. Many areas are completely waterlogged, and basements are full of water. 

In June, Vijay Kumar Bharadwaj, a resident president of Defence Colony A Block RWA, stated that in addition to over 300 complaints, the group has created a list of 52 fully waterlogged basements. He adds, ‘ Basements are up to 4-5 feet underwater. Water has reached the lift areas, cutting off the electricity. The system completely broke down in those few days. Since that morning, the nallahs have been flowing back, allowing sewage to flood into their homes despite this being considered an affluent area’.

Another professional, a lawyer, describes how he and three colleagues who share a vast 300-sq-ft basement office space in upscale Defence Colony were hastily summoned up by their office staff on the morning of June 28 to be informed of the devastation caused by the rains. He describes how their employees were unable to access the workplace because water had accumulated even on the stairs leading to the door. They were shocked to go into an utterly wrecked workplace after spending hours draining the water, which needed both the aid of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and private pumps that had been urgently acquired.

All of the furniture and reference books were scattered around the lobby, bookshelves were smashed, computer displays and laptops were shattered, and data had been entirely ruined. The damage was so extensive that false ceilings and lights embedded in them had collapsed completely. Everything was ruined, and nothing could be saved. 

Just after one month, another legal practitioner, Pawas Kulshrestha, despite paying around Rs 55,000 a month as rent, was aghast when his swanky Defence Colony basement office was flooded during heavy rain on July 28.

Basement economy in Defence colony.

Basement offices in Delhi, frequently located in upmarket residential areas like Defence Colony, are among the most sought-after real estate sites for ‘professionals’. From a young advocate just starting their career to silk-stocking senior advocates, from physicians to chartered accountants, the basement office is a popular alternative, even when there is little sunlight or mobile phone coverage. Then there’s another subterranean world: gymnasiums, cloud kitchens, bars, and libraries, many of which violate civic standards. 

A variety of circumstances, ranging from how land-use rules are written to ballooning property prices, have enabled a thriving basement economy to emerge in the nation’s capital. Basements have no other purpose outside professional activity. Gyms, diagnostic centres, gaming zones, and even coaching centres cannot operate in basements and must be located on other levels, and hence, defence colony, one of the poshest areas of Delhi, that has numerous basements functioning are under great risk at this monsoon.

Why the basement economy is flourishing in the Defence colony?

According to a property dealer, the rental rate for a basement measuring approximately 900 square yards in a newly constructed building in Defence Colony is Rs 2.5 lakh, with prices rising to Rs 3.5 lakh for the ground and first floors, Rs 3 lakh for the second floor and between Rs 4 and 4.5 lakh for the fourth and above floors. A basement unit in the same region costs roughly Rs 16 crore, while a first-floor space costs about Rs 13 crore.

Why is the defence colony prone to basement flooding?

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) recently voiced disappointment that authorities were not taking responsibility for desilting and dredging the Barapullah drain. The drain, which is around 16 km long, flows through areas of south, central, and southeast Delhi, including Chirag Delhi, INA, Mehrauli, Defence Colony, GK, Nizamuddin, and Pushp Vihar before emptying into the Yamuna. Once a natural stream fed by monsoon rain, the drain now transports about 80% of wastewater from the Barapullah basin region into the river, accounting for a significant portion of the river’s pollution. The land beside the drain is a sewage and wastewater wetland, providing a breeding ground for disease and pests.

Noting that agencies were still “playing a blame game,” the NGT, in an order dated August 2 and posted on Sunday, stated that while an early segment of the drain was being dredged by the irrigation and flood control department, a portion of the drain closer to the Yamuna had yet to be desilted by any agency and was most likely causing waterlogging.

The NGT has been considering multiple petitions, including one from the Nizamuddin West RWA, requesting remedial steps to remediate the Barapullah and its subsidiary drains, including the Kushak drain. On June 28, the Barapullah drain flooded vast portions of south and central Delhi after receiving over 200mm of rain in a single day and causing water to overflow from the drain. Defence Colony, being a part of South Delhi and having a large number of basements, is hence prone to waterlogging issues.

A wall break at Barapullah in late June and water backflow at the Barapullah drain, a significant water basin in the capital, have also been blamed for flooding in various parts of South, South East, and New Delhi. Backflow from the Barapullah drain can create waterlogging in Defence Colony and other parts of Delhi, particularly after heavy rains. The Barapullah drain is a tributary of the Yamuna that can get blocked with construction waste and sewage, rendering it susceptible to harm during brief periods of rain. When the canal and Yamuna fill with water, backflow can cause floods in Defence Colony, Jangpura, Lajpat Nagar, and Nizamuddin, making Defence Colony one of the riskiest regions to be observed.

Moreover, apart from this, the Kushak drain was earlier also blamed for causing problems for the people of the defence colony. In an article titled ‘Stormwater canal backflow floods Jangpura, Defence Colony in Delhi’ published in 2018, Bhavreen Kandhari, a resident of Defence Colony, D block, said that the Kushak stormwater drain was covered in 2008, and because of this, every year when it rains, their basements get flooded.

Another person, Major (retired) Ranjit Singh, the previous RWA president of Defence Colony, stated that the concrete Kushak drain replaced an open drain with side slopes, which was plainly a horrible concept. The concrete bed prevents water discharge, and silt accumulates inside. Furthermore, the majority of fundamental municipal infrastructure was constructed in the 1950s, although the population has quadrupled since then, necessitating a comparable infrastructure improvement.

All these attempts make the defence colony the next riskiest place in Delhi, holding the largest basements in the area.