Kejriwal Government ropes in consultants to resolve Delhi’s drainage problems
CM Arvind Kejriwal takes stock of all timelines related to the appointment of consultants and augmentation of drains in Delhi
Essential to overcome issues like waterlogging to make Delhi a world-class capital: CM Arvind Kejriwal
Delhi Government is working round the clock to rid Delhi of its drainage woes: CM Arvind Kejriwal
NEW DELHI:
The Delhi Government has taken the resolve of transforming the city into a world-class capital which is free of problems like waterlogging. Chief Minister Shri Arvind Kejriwal is personally working on eliminating the problem of water-logging from Delhi. In this vein, he held a high-level review meeting to discuss the Delhi Drainage Master Plan today. In this meeting it was decided that the Kejriwal Government will rope in consultants to resolve Delhi’s drainage problems. The CM also took stock of all timelines related to the appointment of consultants and augmentation of drains in Delhi. During the meeting the CM stated that it is essential to overcome issues like waterlogging to make Delhi a world-class capital and the Delhi Government is working round the clock to rid Delhi of its drainage woes.
Chief Minister Shri Arvind Kejriwal chaired a high-level meeting today to review the progress of the Delhi Drainage Master Plan at the Delhi Secretariat. During this meeting it was decided to rope in consultants to look after the Najafgarh Basin as well as the Trans-Yamuna and Barapulla Basin. The CM also laid focus on bringing the entire project under the purview of one agency. The meeting was also attended by Deputy CM Shri Manish Sisodia who holds the PWD portfolio as well senior officials of the department. The officials thoroughly presented the whole action plan to the CM and also apprised him of the timelines of the appointments of consultants.
CM Shri Arvind Kejriwal said, “We’ve been working very hard to resolve Delhi’s drainage and water-logging problems. This is our dream project. We should initiate discussions with all caretaker agencies and ask them to let us have charge of transforming the drainage system. The problem of drainage and waterlogging affects every citizen of Delhi, if the Delhi Government can look after the whole project we’ll be able to overcome significant challenges and make the system world-class. A plan must be chalked out for this purpose so that requisite approvals can be sought for.” The CM further directed officials to make necessary preparations to seek approvals from all concerned agencies so that the Delhi Government can adopt the responsibility of the whole project.
Consultants to prepare blueprint for augmenting drainage systems and monitor implementation
The Delhi Government will appoint two consultants to look after the project. One consultant will handle the works of the Najafgarh basin. The second consultant will look after the Trans-Yamuna and Barapullah basins. They will prepare the blueprints for augmenting Delhi’s drainage systems and monitor the implementation work as well.
The CM has also directed officers to resolve the problem of water logging during heavy rains soon. For this purpose, necessary changes will be made in every wastewater drain and stormwater drain, so that even during heavy rains, better drainage can be ensured and the problem of water logging can be resolved. A separate project will be made for minor changes required in every drain in specific. The concerned officers have been instructed to prepare the complete plan at the earliest.
There are about 2,846 drains in Delhi. Their length totals to about 3,692 kilometres. A major part of these drains is with the Public Works Department (PWD) and the PWD is also its nodal department. Delhi is divided into three major natural drainage basins. Trans Yamuna, Barapullah and Najafgarh. In addition, there are also some small drainage basins in Aruna Nagar and Chandrawal, which drain directly into the Yamuna.
147 waterlogging hotspots identified in Delhi
To deal with the menace of waterlogging during the monsoons, the Delhi government, under the leadership of CM Shri Arvind Kejriwal, is making preparations on a war footing. Delhi had received up to 110 mm rainfall per day, last year, which led to serious water logging issues in many areas. In this regard, the Public Works Department (PWD) has identified various hotspots of waterlogging in the capital and has been working to prepare such infrastructure, which will prevent waterlogging in the future. Given this, PWD has identified 147 hotspots of waterlogging and has started working on them. The PWD is preparing short-term and long-term strategies to prevent waterlogging in the future in all such areas.