Washing away badly constructed bridges, flooding illegally constructed basements, causing potholes in newly inaugurated roads, and revealing non-existent drainage of so-called smart cities, the rain gods mercilessly exposed the shamefully poor construction and maintenance of expensive infrastructure. Delhi had more than its fair share of rain-related woes. The first heavy rainfall of the season led to waterlogging in the entire city, immobilising traffic, and causing the collapse of an airport canopy, which sadly, resulted in the death of a cab driver. Interestingly, airport canopies in several other cities also collapsed; leaving air passengers wondering why they had to pay fees like Passenger Service Fee, User Development Fee, Aviation Security Fee etc.

Later on, shocked by the dea ths of three IAS aspirants who were studying in the illegal basement of a coaching centre, the Delhi High Court came down heavily on civic and police authorities. A strange fact emerged; building code violations were in the knowledge of the Municipal Corporation and Fire Department, but both chose to look the other way. Moreover, instead of acting against civic officials who had turned a blind eye to the illegal construction, the police arrested a car driver who had happened to pass by the coaching centre. Still more strangely, the lower court, initially denied bail to the car driver. The High Court observed about the Municipal Corporation: “You have suspended the junior-most officer. What happens to the senior-most officer who has to supervise? … This is a case of neglect. It is a case of criminal neglect.”

About the Police, the High Court said: “There is some sort of strange investigation which is going on. No MCD officials have been hauled up till now… Police have arrested some bystander, a driver who was driving a car there.” The High Court also took the Delhi Government to task, observing that they were permitting multi-storeyed buildings in places which had no proper drainage, more importantly, the Government were not collecting taxes, leading to bankruptcy of civic bodies. This was not the first time that the Delhi Government, Delhi Police and civic bodies had faced the High Court’s ire for the city’s monsoon woes.

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In April 2024, while hearing matters related to the 2023........

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