NEW DELHI: The Public Works Department has blamed the Delhi Jal Board drain for the waterlogging under the Minto Road Railways Bridge. It said that it will construct an independent pipeline to drain the rainwater on Minto Road.
The PWD, facing flak for waterlogging under Minto Bridge for last few days, the PWD said that the congestion was being caused by a nearby DJB sewer drain.
“The department plans to establish an individual line to drain out rainwater at Minto Road. This will hopefully solve the problem because it has been noticed that whenever the drainage system is connected to the DJB line, it causes such situation as 0seen earlier this week,” Abhishek Raj, the nodal officer for monsoon drainage plan in the Delhi government, informed.
According to another senior PWD officer, a DJB sewer pipeline coming from Paharganj that connects to Minto Bridge stormwater drains is the actual cause of the problem. PWD is also hopeful of finding a permanent solution to the problem.
The DJB denied any problem in its sewer lines. “On the day when the road was waterlogged, a DJB team was sent to the site to inspect all the sewer lines near the area. All were found to be congestion-free and working properly. There was no problem in our sewer lines,” said a DJB spokesperson.
This comes at a time when DJB vice-chairman and AAP lawmaker Raghav Chadha has been constantly blaming the BJP-ruled civic bodies for the Minto Road waterlogging. Chadha also denied any problem with DJB sewer lines near Minto Road.
Interestingly, both PWD and DJB are departments under the Delhi government. Delhi Traffic Police had identified at least 82 vulnerable waterlogging points and highlighted them to the Delhi government before the onset of monsoon this year.
“The work has already begun at a few places and other locations will be covered after the monsoon. The locations were submitted to the PWD this year and we are working on it,” said Raj. Most underpasses in the city are on this list, he said.