Commuters wading through a waterlogged road in New Delhi on Tuesday.
| Photo Credit: SHASHI SHEKHAR KASHYAP
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) locked horns over waterlogging after heavy rain lashed the national capital on Tuesday, leaving several parts of the city waterlogged.Sharing a video on X showing schoolchildren being carried on theirparents’ shoulders through waist-deep water, AAP Delhi president Saurabh Bharadwaj said, “In Sadar Bazar, one of Delhi’s largest wholesale markets, schoolchildren are being forced to pass through waist-deep rainwater. Thank you, CM Rekha Gupta. After Gen Z, now Gen Alpha, too, will remain indebted to the BJP.”Hitting back, Delhi BJP president Harsh Malhotra claimed that, barring 2025, the city had witnessed waterlogging every monsoon for the past 27 years, even after light rain. He said the BJP government “had almost freed the city from the waterlogging problem”.“Due to the relentless efforts of the Rekha Gupta government, improvement is visible in 75% of Delhi today. Delhiites should remain assured that after 2027, prolonged waterlogging during the monsoon will become a thing of the past,” he said.CM reviews issueMeanwhile, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, accompanied by senior officials, travelled by a Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) bus to assess the ground situation following the rain and review key civic works.The Chief Minister began the inspection from her camp office in Civil Lines and travelled by bus via the Outer Ring Road and Madhuban Chowk to the DDA Sports Complex in Sector 33, Rohini. During the journey, she reviewed the progress of waste disposal operations at landfill sites along the route.According to a government official, Ms. Gupta also reviewed waterlogging-prone areas, the cleanliness of major roads, and the condition of debris and garbage accumulated along roadsides. She instructed officials to “strengthen the drainage system during the monsoon and ensure that no area experiences waterlogging”.The Safdarjung weather station, the city’s representative observatory, recorded 32.4 mm of rainfall in the 24 hours ending at 8.30 a.m. on Tuesday and 57.6 mm of rainfall during the day till 5.30 p.m., according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). Generally cloudy skies and light to moderate rain are expected on Wednesday, the IMD said. Published - July 29, 2026 01:04 am IST
