Prayagraj, Aug. 9 -- As the monsoon season nears its end, a heavy downpour on Friday brought widespread disruption to Prayagraj. Within just a few hours of morning rain, vast stretches of the city-from low-lying Kachhar areas to elevated Uparhar zones-were submerged. Even elevated roads, such as the one near Gate No 3 of Azad Park, saw knee-deep water, forcing people to wade through it in front of the Allahabad University campus. Rain began around 7 am and continued until 1 pm, falling relentlessly. By 10 am, as office-goers ventured out, the full extent of the waterlogging crisis was evident. Jawaharlal Nehru Road near Parvati Hospital was inundated, while Balson Chauraha was completely flooded. People were seen pushing their vehicles for up to half a kilometer and spending 10-15 minutes trying to restart them. In George Town, where waterlogging is common, Friday's flooding reached unprecedented levels. The road behind Sangam Petrol Pump, stretching from the police station to Azad Park, was submerged. Gopal Sahu, a shopkeeper using that street for the past 35 years, said he had never seen water accumulate there before. By 5 pm, the water had still not receded, despite pumping equipment being present-though it appeared the pumps were either non-functional or inadequate. After the rain, nearly every neighborhood reported water entering homes. Areas that routinely face waterlogging-such as Allapur, Alopibagh, Tularambagh, Madhwapur, Bairahana, Kidganj, George Town, Tagore Town, and South Malaka-were hit hard. However, this time, the flooding also reached typically dry areas like Katra, Mumfordganj, Civil Lines, Meerapur, and Jhalwa. Frustrated residents voiced their anger at the administration. One such post came from union leader Kripa Shankar Srivastava, who shared a video with the caption: "Development has reached my home." Despite significant drops in water levels of the Ganga and Yamuna rivers on Friday, flood-like conditions prevailed across the city due to the rain. At 8 am in Phaphamau, the Ganga had fallen by 173 cm in 24 hours, while the Yamuna dropped by 108 cm in Naini. Though residents of riverbank areas felt some relief, urban neighborhoods suffered as rainwater backed up into homes through clogged drains. In Mumfordganj, three drainage pumps were non-functional, with the control room itself submerged, leaving no way to pump water out. Although river levels had fallen, the Ganga remained above 80 metres, which kept the sluice gates closed. In such conditions, pumping stations are the only way to drain rainwater from the city. However, Friday's downpour overwhelmed these systems. Following the widespread flooding, questions were raised about the effectiveness of pre-monsoon drain-cleaning efforts. District magistrate Manish Kumar Verma has asked the municipal corporation to submit a comprehensive report and called a review meeting to assess how many drains were cleaned and why the situation deteriorated despite those efforts....