A smelly trail from barracks to grounds: Regiment's daily battle

For decades, soldiers have trudged through sewage four times daily in south Delhi. No bridge has been built despite repeated requests

- Snehil Sinha

NEW DELHI: Every morning, like clockwork, over 3,000 soldiers of the Rajputana Rifles march out of their barracks and head for the parade ground. But to get there, they must first duck under a narrow, crumbling culvert, entirely covered in garbage, that straddles a foul-smelling drain. Four times a day—twice before breakfast and twice after dusk—this is the path they must cross, navigating muck and stench.

This isn't an image from a neglected outpost or a border camp.

It's the daily reality inside the headquarters of the Rajputana Rifles, the oldest rifle regiment of the Indian Army, located in Delhi Cantonment, a short walk from the bustling Delhi Cantonment Metro Station.

Every year, as the rains swell the nullah, the already-difficult crossing becomes a hazard. Flooded, slick with sludge, and nearly waist-deep in places, it forces soldiers to roll up their fatigues and wade through water. They do this till the water reaches a level when it is hazardous to even try crossing the culvert.

Locals said that the culvert was flooded again on Sunday morning after heavy rains, disturbing the morning training session of the soldiers. The water drained out only by early afternoon. "Today was not an exception. This is the ordeal that the soldiers have to face every single time it rains. The purpose of the culvert actually is to drain out water and to provide passage to the men. They use it as there is no other way," said Aditya Tanwar, a local activist.