NEW DELHI: Delhi Lt Governor V K Saxena on Saturday visited the Kirari area and became “visibly peeved” at seeing overflowing sewers, open manholes, heaps of garbage, potholed-dusty roads in the area, according to Raj Niwas officials.
Starting from Bhagwan Mahavir Marg, the L-G visited different locations in Kirari that are prone to severe waterlogging and filled with heaps of garbage, forcing the residents to live in “unhygienic living conditions”, a senior official at the Raj Niwas said.
“Shocked and anguished over the hellish condition that residents of these areas are forced to live in, the L-G directed the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and other agencies concerned to take immediate steps to improve sanitation in the area within a month,” the official said.
Saxena was “visibly peeved at (seeing) overflowing sewers, open manholes, heaps of garbage, potholed-dusty roads and broken pavements in the area”.
He was informed that a major part of Kirari was low-lying and hence severely prone to waterlogging that forced people to live in “unhygienic conditions due to absence of sewerage system and lack of adequate storm water drainage system”.
Also, a vast extent of nearly 500 acres of open DDA land surrounding Kirari was perennially filled with storm water as no proper drainage system exists in the area, they said.
Saxena directed the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to expedite the construction of a 7.2 km drain that has been planned as a long-term solution to waterlogging in the area.
He also asked the DDA to chalk out a comprehensive drainage plan to ease out the drainage issues in Kirari. As of now, Kirari Suleman Nagar Drain (KSN drain) is the only major storm water drain in Kirari but that is “proving insufficient” to meet the drainage requirements, the officials said.
The agencies including PWD, DJB and I&FC department were also directed to expedite the works of remodelling the KSN drain other existing drains along the Rohtak Road to solve waterlogging issue.
‘Pathetic conditions’
The LG lamented that such an “apathy on part of the government agencies had led to the pathetic conditions” due to which Kirari, which houses nearly 1.5 lakh households and a population of 7-8 lakh, has remained “one of the most underdeveloped parts of the national capital, an official said.