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

Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena on Sunday inspected three arterial drains in the Nizamuddin area and flagged their state appalling amp shameful that were found to be heavily choked with silt sludge and debris Raj Niwas officials saidHitting 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 wrongdoingsThere 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 saidIn 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 todayVisited and inspected the Barapulla Kushak amp Sunehri drains amp historic Barapulla bridge at Nizamuddin today The reality on the ground is appaling amp shameful It requires urgent corrective measures to ensure smooth flow of water to mitigate flooding pictwittercomlVKh4JodQVmdash LG Delhi LtGovDelhi August 4 2024The reality on the ground is appaling amp shameful It requires urgent corrective measures to ensure smooth flow of water to mitigate flooding he said in the postSaxena 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 leadershipThese 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 contraryOnly 5 out of the 12 bays under culverts at Barapulla 3 out of 6 bays at Sunehri amp 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 amp flooding in catchment colonies LG stated on XHe 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 weekI remain committed to the cause of Delhi amp its people LG added on XLater 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 wasteAccompanied by officials of the concerned drainowning 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 saidThe respective district magistrates have been directed to submit daily reports on the cleaning operations with photographs they addedThe 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 saidThe LG also visited the historic ASIprotected 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 weekFour 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 MCDExpressing 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 floodingThe 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 saidResponding to LGs visit the AAP said Sir you arrived too late Huzoor aate aate bahaut der kar diThe 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 statementHowever 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 drainsHowever 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 saidThe 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 processThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever