AAP government gears up to check waterlogging during rains

New Delhi: With the monsoon approaching, Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia on Monday called for setting up of a special purpose vehicle to clean the city’s drains and prevent waterlogging on roads in the national capital.

After chairing a meeting of an apex committee to review measures for flood control in Delhi, he released the “Flood Control Order 2018” under which a central flood control room has been set up to deal with waterlogging and flood-like situation in the city.

Mr Sisodia, PWD minister Satyendar Jain and irrigation and flood control minister Gopal Rai will oversee the work related to flood control measures in all 11 districts of Delhi. The monsoon is expected to surround Delhi on June 29, its normal onset date for the national capital.

During the monsoon season, Delhi witnesses waterlogging on roads and agencies blame each other for not taking concrete steps to prevent the situation. Acco-rding to the government, the control room has been established under the control of the East district magistrate and will operate round the clock till October 15.

Representatives from all departments and civic agencies will be part of the control room to mitigate issues related to their departments during the monsoon season. Addre-ssing a gathering here, he said the process of cleaning the drains being used by the PWD and the MCDs in most of the cases is very “primitive”.

He said garbage from drains are kept on roadside and are then taken away when they dry up, adding that in the process a part of the garbage again goes back into the drain.

“It is done nowhere in the world. We must move to modern technology,” the deputy chief minister said, adding that one of the solutions is the use of super suckers.

He urged officers to ensure the drains area cleaned at the earliest. “There is multiplicity of agencies in Delhi as far as cleaning of drains is concerned. We must try for a special purpose vehicle for better coordination and cleaning,” he said.

At the meeting, Divisional Commissioner Manisha Saxena said MCD commissioners should allow disposal of silt, removed from drains by various departments at the sites, to ensure that the silt does not flow back into drains during rainfall.

The key points for monsoon preparation stated that all district magistrates and SDMs will be vigilant and responsive in the unlikely event of flood if the Yamuna crosses the danger mark, according to an official statement.

All municipal corporations, New Delhi Municipal Council, Delhi Development Authority should ensure prompt remedial action in case of drainage congestion on account of heavy rain, it stated.