NEW DELHI: Proper desilting of around 200 kms of Delhi’s sewer line network is the biggest challenge being faced in the cleaning of the Yamuna, officials informed Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena at a high-level committee meeting on Tuesday.
The submission to this effect was made during the third high level committee meeting chaired by Saxena on the river cleaning, formed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT), at Asita East along the riverbank.
According to the report, the L-G asked the department concerned to expedite the work and directed them for trapping all 242 drains on the records of agencies and another 238 that are not on the records.
While work on various fronts has been undertaken in a time-bound manner with the goal of concrete achievements by June 30, when the NGT will take stock of the progress, the biggest “road block and challenge” being faced is the desilting of approximately 200 kms of the trunk and peripheral sewer lines, the statement read.
“Gross inaction and neglect on the part of the Delhi Jal Board, which had not undertaken any desilting work for the past 8-10 years, had resulted in the sewer lines getting choked. The sewer lines were choked up to 80-90% with not only sewage but also boulders and municipal solid waste,” the statement said.
The statement added that while 90.34km of sewer lines were projected to be cleaned by June, the remaining 110 kms were expected to be cleaned by September. The L-G directed officials to take up the desilting work on a mission mode and complete it within the stipulated time.
It was pointed out at the meeting that the level of pollution in the Yamuna on various perimeters has gone down in the last two-three months, especially due to interventions in the Najafgarh Drain, the statement added. Emphasis was also given on 100% treatment of the sewage generated in the city, the gaps therein and the way forward for the DJB, the sewage network in unauthorised colonies and industrial effluent management, among other issues.