Key drains being declogged on ‘war footing’: Delhi LG

New Delhi
Lieutenant governor (LG) VK Saxena on Sunday said Sunehri, Kushak and Barapullah drains are being declogged “on war footing with high-tech machines”, citing the removal of 5,000 tonnes of sludge and garbage over the past three weeks.
Saxena made the statement while inspecting ongoing de-silting work of major drains in the city, following up on a previous inspection carried out on August 4. Then, all three drains were completely choked causing backflow in their catchment areas.
In a series of posts on X, Saxena said: “Inspected the ongoing de-silting work at Sunehri, Kushak & Barapulla drains, started after my first visit to the site on 04.08.24 after rains had inundated large swathes of areas in their catchment. De-silting, declogging & decluttering of the right of way of all 3 drains is continuing on a war footing with high-tech machines around the clock. Three weeks down the line, changes have begun to show, as the drains have started to flow unencumbered. The same is also reflecting in the remarkable reduction in the intensity of flooding in the neighboring areas.”
He said: “Around 5009 MT of sludge, garbage & waste has been taken out of these drains till now by different agencies. Significant work yet remains and I am committed to taking the desilting of not just these 3, but all major drains of Delhi one by one.”
On August 16, Saxena said that clogging of Capital’s large drains with garbage and silt was the key reason for waterlogging, citing that three main drains — Barapullah, Kushak and Sunehri drains — carry 24% of stormwater drain run-off but they were not even operating at even 10% of their capacity.
Delhi has seen multiple episodes of heavy waterlogging and inundation during rain spells this monsoon.
On August 4, Saxena, found the three drains heavily choked with debris and silt deposit, contrary to the de-silting claims made by respective agencies. These three arterial drains are under the I&FC department and MCD, and they carry stormwater into the Yamuna.
Only five of the 12 bays under culverts at Barapullah, three out of six bays at Sunehri; and four of seven bays at Kushak drains were found to be open, and the rest were completely choked, drastically reducing their carrying capacity, the LG noted.
Saxena also directed the restoration of the 400-year-old Barapullah bridge at Nizamuddin by the Archeological Survey of India.