Indian Express 25.11.2010
High groundwater level affecting buildings, roads in East Delhi
At least three roads have caved in over the past month near Lalita Park — where a building collapsed last week killing 70 people — due to a rise in the groundwater level and overflowing of sewer lines, municipal officials said on Wednesday.
While the underground water level or subsoil water was about eight metres below earlier, it has risen by six metres at places like Lalita Park in recent times, allowing water to percolate and weaken roads and buildings, they said. This information came to light during an inspection of the area by Urban Development Minister and local MLA A K Walia and senior officials.
On November 15, a huge crater was formed at C Block, Laxmi Nagar, when the sewer pipe sank, officials told Walia. A few days ago, a part of the main road of East Enclave and Preet Vihar had also sunk. There are other points like Aaram Park, Parwana Road, Rasheed Market and D-Block, Shakarpur where minor road cave-ins were causing inconvenience to the public.
Newsline found water being pumped out of buildings in Laxmi Nagar and Preet Vihar. However, this did not appear to be a permanent solution as whatever water was drained out re-entered the soil.
V P S Tomar, Chief Engineer, Irrigation and Flood Control (I&FC), said roads and buildings have been collapsing because they were not built strong enough to sustain such a high rise in water levels. “Along with being earthquake resistant, buildings also have to be strong enough to sustain rise in groundwater levels, especially if they are in low lying areas,” he said.
During the inspection on Wednesday, Walia found lots of water still trapped in pushtas (embankments) and expressed concern over the safety of the colonies situated near them. “There is water in basements of houses near the Yamuna bed and this puts people’s lives in danger. I have asked the Irrigation and Flood Control Department to come up with a plan to drain out water from the pushtas,” Walia said. The minister said he will be meeting L-G Tejendra Khanna on Thursday to discuss ways to tackle the problem.
