Dehradun’s Shastri Nagar drowns every monsoon: “Buses float, homes fill with gutter water, lives turn to hell”
DEHRADUN | August 2026
Every monsoon, the capital of Uttarakhand turns its back on Shastri Nagar.
What should be a residential locality in the heart of Dehradun becomes a swamp where buses and four-wheelers literally drown, and residents wade through a toxic mix of rainwater, sewage and silt just to step out of their homes.
The rivulet and the local drain in Shastri Nagar, which comes under Cantt Assembly constituency, overflow with the first heavy spell. Rubbish, shit, dirt and gutter water back up and spill into houses and onto roads. Within hours, ration, furniture, important documents and everything residents own is destroyed in the dirty, muddy floodwater.
“Buses, tempos, cars and two-wheelers get fully submerged. The water enters every house,” said locals. “For days we live like this. The stench, the mosquitoes, the fear of disease — it becomes hell.”
Waterlogging and sewage overflow pose a constant risk of disease to children and the elderly every year. Yet, worryingly, Shastri Nagar falls under four different wards and even after years of complaints, no permanent solution has been found.
Residents say the drain is never desilted before monsoon, garbage keeps choking it, and the overflowing water has no outlet. The result: every rainy season, the same destruction repeats.
A resident, Sunil Dutt Ghildiyal, has now made a direct appeal to the Honorable Chief Minister.
“We request the CM to personally visit Shastri Nagar and see the suffering with his own eyes. Take concrete steps through public welfare schemes and give us a permanent solution to this serious problem,” he said.
“It is hoped that the Chief Minister will understand the pain of the people of the area and take cognizance of it soon,” the local residents said.
With the monsoon at its peak, families in Shastri Nagar are once again bracing for another year of lost belongings, submerged vehicles and health hazards — asking only one question: how long will the capital city ignore its own people?
