Special Report · Investigative
The Drains That Were Never Finished: An Urban Flooding Audit
We tracked 18 stalled drainage projects across four cities to understand why monsoon flooding keeps getting worse in neighbourhoods that were promised a fix years ago.
Lucknow, Kanpur, Patna, Bhopal 28 Jun 202664.2K views
Investigation Timeline
Mar 2026
Tender record review begins across four municipal corporations.
Apr 2026
Site visits conducted in 18 identified project locations.
Jun 2026
Report published ahead of the monsoon season.
Chapter 1: Eighteen Stalled Projects
Municipal tender records across four cities reveal eighteen drainage upgrade projects that remain incomplete despite contracted deadlines that have already passed, in some cases by over three years.
Chapter 2: Who Pays the Cost
Residents in affected neighbourhoods describe recurring property damage each monsoon, with no compensation mechanism available to them.