New Delhi: As pre-monsoon showers descended on Delhi on Friday, the city’s preparedness for the impending monsoon season remains in question. Government agencies, including the Delhi government’s irrigation and flood control department, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), and the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), are struggling to meet targets for desilting major drains across the city, exacerbating concerns about potential waterlogging and flooding.
Despite starting the desilting process earlier this year, the Public Works Department (PWD), which manages 1,037 stormwater drains along its 1,400 km road network, has only completed 85% of its targeted work. A PWD official mentioned, “We are trying our best to complete the desilting work by next week in most places. However, there will be slight delays in some zones due to various reasons.”
In critical areas where 22 major drains empty into the Yamuna River, progress has been uneven, with some locations seeing only 50% of the work completed, while others have reached 70%. The Delhi High Court has previously expressed concern over the city’s monsoon preparedness, directing the Chief Secretary to designate a single agency responsible for managing these major drains.
Residents are sceptical of the authorities’ claims of progress. A resident of Ordnance Apartments in Vikaspuri, remarked, “The authorities’ claims of having cleaned the drains are farcical. Despite their assurances, we have seen little evidence of actual desilting.”
The MCD, responsible for over 713 drains that are more than four feet deep, missed its June 15 deadline, with desilting work still underway at 434 locations. According to an MCD report, 73,404 tonnes of silt have been removed, representing 94% of the targeted volume. Raja Iqbal Singh, leader of the opposition in MCD, stated, “So far, 94% of work has been completed, and it will take another week to 10 days to meet the Phase I target.”
Residents in various localities, including Kamla Nagar and Greater Kailash I, have expressed concerns about the potential for waterlogging due to incomplete desilting efforts. MK Gupta of S Block, Greater Kailash I, noted, “If it rains heavily, our locality will be waterlogged.”
The NDMC, which manages drainage into the Kushak nullah and Sunheri Pul nullah, has cleared 1,400 cubic metres of silt out of a 2,000 cubic metre target. NDMC vice-chairman Satish Upadhyay assured, “Desilting is in progress at all locations, and we have arranged for pumps to prevent waterlogging.”
The irrigation and flood control department, which oversees major drains including the 57km-long Najafgarh drain, claims significant progress, with over 10 lakh tonnes of silt removed out of an estimated 15 lakh tonnes.
Despite these efforts, the spectre of waterlogged streets looms large over Delhi as the monsoon approaches. The delay in desilting and incomplete preparedness highlight the need for a more coordinated and efficient approach to urban drainage management.
