Delhi's Buried Drains Resurface as Flooding Nightmare

In the years leading up to 2025, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) undertook a project to cover stretches of the Kushak Drain in Defence Colony, promising green parks and tidy walkways. However, a decade later, this plan has unraveled.

The once-functional stormwater drain has now turned into a "fermentation chamber," with methane and hydrogen sulfide gases venting from sealed manholes. Slabs laid over the channel have trapped silt, clogging the flow and leaving the colony waterlogged even after moderate rain. Agencies now struggle to access and clean these buried drains, as structures on top have to be ripped apart for each maintenance effort.

This story is not unique to Kushak Drain. Across Delhi, stretches of natural stormwater drains were boxed in with concrete and buried in an attempt to "beautify" the city. But 10-15 years later, the situation has far from improved, with routine waterlogging plaguing upscale neighborhoods like Defence Colony, Maharani Bagh, and Greater Kailash.

Experts argue that the push to cover drains was driven by a flawed vision, as well as public impatience and civic opportunism. Rather than addressing the underlying issue of sewage inflows, authorities chose the cheaper, short-term solution of burying the drains. Now, the city struggles to maintain these inaccessible, covered channels, and the ecology has suffered as a result.

In 2023, the Delhi government unveiled a comprehensive ₹57,000-crore drainage master plan to overhaul the city's stormwater network. But activists argue that the plan has sidestepped the central question of what to do with the already-buried drains. Piecemeal efforts to uncover and revive some drains are underway, but progress remains slow.