Just 2-3 hours of heavy rain in August 2020 inundated Jaipur's Walled City, triggering landslides and forcing emergency rescue of a 2,300-year-old Egyptian mummy from the flooded basement of the Albert Hall Museum. The city's historic 18th-century drainage system had been dismantled over decades by encroachment, metro construction damage, and basement construction blocking water flow, while a 2016 JDA master drainage plan remained unfunded and unimplemented.
On record
The official record states: "Not specified by any government body; contributing factors identified by reporting included encroachment on the Amanishah Nala riverbed, drainage damage during 2016 Jaipur Metro excavation, and a chronically underfunded master drainage plan."
Filed as "Under repeat repair" and dated to Master drainage plan prepared 2016 (pending since 2007); flooding incident August 2020, this entry sits under the "Not specified — master plan "hanging in the balance since 2007 because of the lack of funds"" line of the public accounts.
What to expect
- A ribbon-cutting photograph that aged faster than the structure.
- Maintenance records that exist in principle.
- A budget line that grew with the confidence of the project itself.
- A file number that outlived several transfer postings.
Sourcing
1 public source — news reports, RTI replies and civic archives — corroborate this entry. The citation trail is listed below for anyone who would like to follow up with the department concerned.
“The delay has been studied more thoroughly than the design.”— Blunderlust Editorial Desk
Sources
Visitor reviews
“Took the family here on a Sunday when the traffic allowed it. It is ninety percent done and has been for a very long time.”
“Got dropped off at the wrong gate and discovered it that way. Bring water, shade and low expectations.”
“Made a special trip across Jaipur just for this. The pigeons have made better use of it than the public.”
