#DelhiRains: City halts in a monsoon meltdown!
As raindrops keep falling on our heads, Delhi’s residents pour out complaints and coping strategies of how they are sailing through the waterlogged city while cancelling plans and skipping college and office.
It’s not every other year that Delhi witnesses incessant rains that get recorded over 261mm, making the city come to a halt. From videos of streets having turned into rivers to reels of submerged vehicles and subways, the picture presented on social media users from different parts of the Capital are not all false as these emphasise the need to improve not just the city’s infrastructure but also our living habits that have contributed immensely in polluting the city to the optimum.


As more rainy days are expected in the week ahead, here’s how the residents are complaining and coping with what’s at hand.
Raincheck!
Some of the events planned over last weekend were cancelled due to the downpour. “Our art exhibition had to open on Saturday evening and since the roads were inundated, we started receiving regret message from guests. That’s when seeing the situation, we decided to postpone the opening thought it was barely hours before the event,” informs Saurabh Singhvi, director, Art Magnum in Yusuf Sarai, adding, “The food for the evening was ready. Of course the poor caterer should no bear the brunt of this last minute change so we paid and faced a loss there as well as due to the delay in the opening. But now, we’ve decided to open on July 13, after the city gets over the rain spell since the weather forecast till then looks scary.”

Walk in the rain? No!
Prabhjot Singh, Foodkars, says, “We cancelled our monsoon walk planned over weekend, when we got to know about the orange alert issued by the officials. Those who had confirmed their presence, we informed them right in the morning about the change in plan since they come from different parts of the city and waterlogging ki haalat toh sabko dikh hi rahi thi. We’ve now postponed our walk to next Sunday because usse pehle baarish kum dikh hi nahi rahi hai.”
Offices go hybrid
When it’s peak winter or summer, it’s common for Delhiites to hear about the closure of schools due to the weather conditions. But when was it last that rain lashed water on school plans? “It’s a rare occasion. I had thought I would drop my kid to his school and then head to office. Of course, seeing the scenario in the city over the weekend, I had it at the back of my mind to stay safe but couldn’t blatantly ask leave from office on the first day of the week,” says Shilpa Dawar, a manager at an MNC in Noida, adding, “As soon as I got a message from my senior that I can work from home as an exception, I was so relieved that I’ll be able to watch over my kid and not try swimming back home in time from Noida to north Delhi, considering the roads don’t seem to be turning back to normal from their river mode.”

Safety first
Sharad, a first-year BCom (Hons) student at Sri Aurobindo College, says, “Teachers are being lenient with class cancellations. Our safety takes precedence, especially after the wall collapse incident at Deshbandhu College raised concerns about the infrastructure in Delhi University.”
Author tweets @HennaRakheja and @maishascribbles
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