Complete desilting of 24 drains by May 31: NGT tells Delhi govt department

New Delhi: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the Irrigation and Flood Control Department (I&FCD) of the Delhi government to submit an undertaking that the desilting works of 24 drains in the national capital will be completed by May 31 to prevent flooding during the monsoon.

The green body was hearing the issue of desilting of the 24 drains, which fall in the Yamuna.

In an order dated February 21, the bench of NGT Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava noted that the I&FCD had submitted a report dated February 20 about the status of desilting the drains along with details regarding the timeline for completion of the work.

According to the report, the timeline for completing the desilting work across all drains is May 31. Most of the work has been completed by February 14 in Moat Drain of Vijay Ghat (84.92 per cent), followed by Civil-Military Drain (78.51 per cent), Maharani Bagh Drain (50.24 per cent), Abul Fazal Drain (49.21 per cent), Kushak Drain (48.93 per cent), Tuglakabad Drain (37.34 per cent) and Sunehri Pul Drain (36.87 per cent).

On the other hand, the least desilting work has been completed in Sonia Vihar Drain (0.08 per cent), Shastri Park Drain (0.34 per cent), Sen Nursing Home Drain (0.54 per cent), Kailash Nagar Drain (0.55 per cent) and Barapulla Drain (1 per cent).

"It has been pointed out that if the desilting work is not completed by the I&FCD within the timeline then this year monsoon will start and the residents of the colony from where these drains are flowing may face the same flooding or overflowing problem of these drains which they had faced in the previous monsoon," said the bench, also comprising judicial member Justice Sudhir Agarwal and expert member A Senthil Vel.

The tribunal said it was thus necessary to complete the work of desilting the 24 drains by May 31.

"Hence, we require the additional chief secretary, I&FCD to submit an undertaking by February 25 that the work of desilting as disclosed will be completed within the stipulated timeline," the tribunal said.

It directed the additional chief secretary to appear virtually on the next date of hearing to inform the tribunal about adhering to the timeline and ensuring there was no flooding during the monsoon.

The matter has been posted for further proceedings on February 27.