NEW DELHI: Even months before the arrival of the monsoon in the capital, the issue of desilting drains has once again come to the forefront. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the Irrigation and Flood Control Department (I&FCD) to ensure that desilting work on 24 city drains is completed by May 31.
The tribunal has also ordered the department’s additional chief secretary to submit an undertaking by February 25, confirming that the deadline will be met.
The directive comes amid concerns that incomplete desilting could lead to severe waterlogging and flooding.
In an order dated February 21, the tribunal, led by Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava, judicial member Justice Sudhir Agarwal, and expert member A. Senthil Vel, referred to a status report submitted by the I&FCD on February 20.
The report outlined progress on the desilting of the 24 drains that flow into the Yamuna and provided a timeline for their completion. According to the report, some drains are nearing completion. As of February 14, work on the Moat Drain of Vijay Ghat was 84.92% complete, while the Civil-Military Drain stood at 78.51%.
Other drains with notable progress included the Maharani Bagh Drain (50.24%), Abul Fazal Drain (49.21%), Kushak Drain (48.93%), Tughlakabad Drain (37.34%), and Sunehri Pul Drain (36.87%).
However, several drains remain largely untouched, raising concerns about whether the deadline will be met. The lowest desilting progress was reported in Sonia Vihar Drain (0.08%), Shastri Park Drain (0.34%), Sen Nursing Home Drain (0.54%), Kailash Nagar Drain (0.55%), and Barapulla Drain (1%).
“It has been pointed out that if the desilting work is not completed by the I&FCD within the timeline then this year monsoon will start and the residents of the colony from where these drains are flowing may face the same flooding or overflowing problem of these drains which they had faced in the previous monsoon,” the bench noted.
To ensure accountability, the NGT has mandated that the additional chief secretary of I&FCD appear virtually at the next hearing slated on February 27.