Delhi govt clears 14 lakh metric tons of silt from 77 major drains

New Delhi, May 30 (PTI) The Delhi government has by this month cleared around 14 lakh metric tons of silt from 77 major drains across the national capital, officials on Friday said.
     Of the 228 km road length identified to be repaired in the 100-day action plan, the Public Works Department (PWD) has completed the work on 66 km till May 29, they said.  
     The repair work includes recarpeting, patchwork, pothole repair and restoration of roads cut by other agencies. The road repair work is carried out by the PWD from mid-March to mid-June and then it stops because of monsoon season.  
     "While it will take sometime to fix the legacy problems in the road and water sectors, but the Delhi government has since coming to power worked for betterment of the city and made some achievements. After the monsoon, we plan to carry out the second phase of road repair, where another 250 km of roads will be identified and repaired," said PWD Minister Parvesh Verma.  
     In the water sector also, we have taken steps like launching GPS-fitted water tankers and commissioning new borewells, he added.  
     In Delhi, the PWD maintains 1,400 km of road length, which are 60 feet wide. These were transferred to the department from the MCD, which is the owner of these roads. Residents have often complained about poor-quality roads, ridden with potholes.
     The national capital faces waterlogging issues every monsoon season mainly because of clogged stormwater drains along the roads which overflow during rainfall, leading to flooding.  
     Based on data shared by the traffic police, a total of 445 waterlogging points have been identified in the capital. Of these, 335 points fall under the PWD's responsibility.
     Earlier this month, the PWD minister said that the city was divided into 35 zones where desilting work was underway with a target to complete the cleaning exercise by May 31.    
     "Of the 2,100 kilometers of stormwater drains, approximately 800 km have been desilted and the remaining work is in progress," said an official source. 
     While stormwater drains are under the PWD, the Irrigation and Flood Control department, which is also under Verma, maintains the big drains.
     Some of these large drains have direct outfall into the Yamuna river.
     Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena had earlier reviewed the ongoing desilting works. According to officials, around 22 lakh metric tonnes of silt is estimated to be accumulated in the 77 large drains of which 63 per cent (14 lakh MT) has been cleared.
     In the water sector, the Delhi Jal Board has fitted all water tankers with location tracking service to increase transparency and 98 new borewells have been installed and commissioned.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)