Delhi LG inspects arterial drains in Nizamuddin, calls ground reality ‘shameful’

New Delhi, Aug 4 (PTI) Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena on Sunday inspected three arterial drains in the Nizamuddin area and flagged their state “appalling & shameful” that were found to be heavily choked with silt, sludge and debris, Raj Niwas officials said.

Hitting back at the Lt Governor, the AAP, in a statement, said, “Now that the monsoon is almost over, the LG has come forward, just to pay lip service and engage in dirty politics. It would have been better if the LG had taken action against the Chief Secretary and the PWD Secretary, as well as any other officers involved in the wrongdoings.”

“There is still time for the LG to take action against CS Naresh Kumar; otherwise, everything else is just a photo opportunity and blatant politics mere lip service,” they said.

In a series of posts on X, Saxena said he visited and inspected the Barapulla, Kushak and Sunehri drains and the historic Barapulla bridge at Nizamuddin today.

“The reality on the ground is appaling & shameful. It requires urgent corrective measures to ensure smooth flow of water to mitigate flooding,” he said in the post.

Saxena also attached some pictures with his posts on X, and said they tell the “story of criminal neglect and mindless apathy of the concerned authorities and their leadership”.

These three arterial drains are under the Irrigation and Flood Control Department and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD). He said that the drains carry stormwater into Yamuna and have not been desilted and unclogged for years, despite claims to the contrary.

“Only 5 out of the 12 bays under culverts at Barapulla, 3 out of 6 bays at Sunehri & 4 out of 7 bays at Kushak drains are open with the remaining lying completely chocked, drastically reducing water carrying capacity. This in turn leads to backflow & flooding in catchment colonies,” LG stated on X.

He directed the accompanying officials to desilt and clear the clogged drains immediately. He instructed them to clear encroachments on Barapulla and restore the bridge to its original state within a week.

“I remain committed to the cause of Delhi & its people,” LG added on X.

Later, in a note, Raj Niwas official said Saxena “was appalled to see the pathetic condition of these drains that were heavily choked with debris, silt deposit and a heap of construction and demolition waste”.

Accompanied by officials of the concerned drain-owning agencies like MCD and Irrigation and Flood Control, he oversaw the commencement of the desilting works on these sites and directed the agencies to complete the works positively within 15 days, the officials said.

The respective district magistrates have been directed to submit daily reports on the cleaning operations with photographs, they added.

The clogging of the Barapullah drain leads to backflow of water and flooding of areas like Nizamuddin, Lodhi Road, Jungpura, CGO Complex and other adjoining parts, they said.

The LG also visited the historic ASI-protected Old Barapulla Bridge and found the same to be heavily encroached. He directed DM (South East) to get all the encroachment cleared by joint action and restore the bridge to its original state within a week.

Four JCB machines were deployed to clean the drains. The LG has directed the officials to deploy more machines to unclog the drains. Both Sunehri and Kushak Nalla belong to the MCD.

Expressing his displeasure at the condition of drains and the inaction on the part of the concerned agencies, LG directed urgent corrective measures to ensure a smooth flow of water to mitigate flooding.

The officials were also instructed to clear the encroachments along these arterial drains. He directed the officials to fence the drains to prevent the dumping of garbage and debris in the drains. He asked them to monitor the drains through CCTV cameras and take action against those found dumping waste into the drains, officials said.

Responding to LG’s visit, the AAP said “Huzoor Aate Aate Bahut Der Kar Di” (Sir, you arrived too late, after the incident had lost its significance).

“The Urban Development (UD) Minister has been shouting from the top of the wall that the Chief Secretary (CS) has been given the responsibility by the High Court of Delhi to ensure that there is no waterlogging in Delhi, to ensure that there is proper desilting of drains by all the Agencies,” the party said in a statement.

“However, the CS ignored these directions. When asked about the list of desilted drains by Urban Development Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj, the Chief Secretary also ignored his orders,” they claimed. The CS was repeatedly reminded by UD Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj to send the list of desilted drains.

“However, the Chief Secretary made several excuses, ranging from the enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct to claiming that he had already updated the High Court and had no obligation towards the elected government,” the AAP said.

The AAP said its government has provided ample video proof, available in the public domain, showing that despite knowing about serious corruption in the desilting of drains, the “CS did not take action against the PWD Secretary or other officers involved in the desilting process”.