Floating case files, damaged furniture: Lawyers stare at losses after offices in basements flooded

On Friday, Safdarjung base station of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) recorded an unusually heavy rainfall of about 228 mm in 24 hours, which was the highest in Delhi since 1936.

Chaturvedi’s office is located in South Extension-1, and she was not the only advocate in the capital struggling due to the heavy rain, she said. “Most of the advocate’s offices are in basements. We are not in a situation to assess real losses at this moment,” she said.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Delhi-based lawyer Shrey Sharawat, whose office is located at Safdarjung Enclave, blamed “(the) deaf ears of the authorities”.

“Even as there wasn’t much damage… water came into our office, both this year and last year. The drainage system outside my office, which was set up by the Delhi Jal Board, has been damaged by rats. Over the course of the last two years, I have even called the authorities and requested that they take action. However, the request fell on deaf ears. The flooding happens due to a faulty drainage system,” she said.

“The situation is terrible at Jangpura block-B. The basement is flooded. There is no electricity. Books are floating, files are floating and the basement is choked,” said advocate Nishank Tripathi, who works with senior advocate and former associate solicitor general (ASG) Sanjay Jain. A video showed the extent of damage with two men – half their bodies in water – dragging out chairs from his office in Jangpura. “There is water till our waists…we’re trying to pump it out,” he said.

The Indian Express spoke to several other lawyers who had files damaged but were unwilling to go on record since it could impact relationships with their clientele. (Express Photo)

Supreme Court advocate Vikram Hegde’s office in Defence Colony also got flooded. “My office staff managed to save the stuff as best as possible. I am reaching Delhi this evening so I don’t yet know the full extent of damage. Files are more or less no issue because we have soft copies. Books and furniture are my main concern,” he told The Indian Express.

“Our office in Nizamuddin East is completely flooded. Some of our books have been damaged. We will be able to make out (the complete damage), maybe by the end of the day. We are starting with the cleaning now,” said Supreme Court advocate Sanbha.