As per the government data, there are about 2,846 drains in Delhi and their length is about 3,692 km, majority of which are being managed by the Public Works Department.
New Delhi: As the monsoon season is approaching, the Public Works Department (PWD) on Wednesday said that several steps were being taken to avoid the waterlogging in Delhi, including construction of separate drains, high capacity sumps and installation of automated pumps etc, at critical locations, said a senior official.
A senior PWD official informed that the department has identified a total of 145 locations, out of which at least seven locations are critical in terms of waterlogging, in the capital city.
While stating the critical locations being identified in the city, he said, “the seven critical waterlogging points of the city include IP State Ring Road near WHO building, underpasses at Pul Prahladpur, Minto Bridge, Zakhira, Okhla, Azadpur and Jahangirpuri metro station road,” he said.
“We are taking many short term as well as long term solutions including construction of drains and sumps, installation of automated pumps, CCTVs, enhancing the man power and deployment of additional maintenance vans,” said a senior official.
Pul Prahladpur underpass is located on Mehrauli-Badarpur Road, which is a crucial link between southeast and south Delhi. The underpass gets flooded every time it rains and gets shut for vehicular movement.
PWD officials said the underpass is a low-lying bowl shaped area and the main cause of waterlogging is overflow of a nearby Delhi Jal Board (DJB) sewer line.
At Pul Prahladpur underpass the PWD aims to solve the recurrent waterlogging problem by constructing a huge sump having 7.5 lakh litre capacity along with an additional motor pump of 600 horsepower to remove water accumulated in the underpass.
Officials said that seven temporary pumps will also be set up with cumulative capacity of 500 horsepower.
Officials said that at Okhla underpass two storm water drains have been constructed along with two pumps of 100 horsepower each to keep the area clear during rains.
At Minto Bridge underpass, the PWD has set up an alternate drainage system by constructing a separate drain, high capacity automated water pumps, CCTVs, and alarms to ensure that the underpass does not get inundated, they said.
As per the government data, there are about 2,846 drains in Delhi and their length is about 3,692 km, majority of which are being managed by the Public Works Department.
Delhi is divided into three major natural drainage basins that are Trans Yamuna, Barapullah and Najafgarh. In addition, there are also some small drainage basins, the Aruna Nagar and Chandrawal, which drain directly into the Yamuna.
Last year in September, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had said that a “world-class drainage system” would be developed across the national capital with drains and sewers being desilted regularly.
He had also said that changes will be made to Delhi’s drainage system based on suggestions received from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi, to resolve the issue of waterlogging in the city.
Officials further said that at the Ring Road near WHO Building, nine pumps will be set up and a sump of 1.5 lakh litre capacity is also being built there. Apart from this, a separate drain will also be constructed here from the old power station on Ring Road till Yamuna for easy discharge of water during the monsoon, a senior PWD official said.
The official added that to solve the water logging problem near Jahangirpuri metro station, a separate drain will be built along the service road along with construction of high capacity motor pumps.
Storm water drains in the area towards Mahendra Park and Ramgarh will also be remodelled for discharge of more water during the monsoon, he added.
