Gurgaon holds meet to discuss issues plaguing Najafgarh drain - Hindustan Times
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Gurgaon holds meet to discuss issues plaguing Najafgarh drain

Hindustan Times | By, Gurgaon
Aug 17, 2017 10:39 PM IST

High silt level in the Najafgarh drain was held as the reason for the flooding of Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway last year

To tackle flooding issues in the city such as the one which occurred in July last year, New Delhi and Haryana state representatives agreed on placing wetlands along the Najafgarh drain as a counter measure.

The issue concerning Najafgarh drain was discussed at a workshop at the City Club in DLF Phase 4.(Praveen Kumar/HT PHOTO)
The issue concerning Najafgarh drain was discussed at a workshop at the City Club in DLF Phase 4.(Praveen Kumar/HT PHOTO)

The same was agreed upon at a workshop held at the City Club in DLF Phase 4 on Thursday to discuss solutions to problems plaguing the Najafgarh drain. The flooding of the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway last year is seen as a direct fallout of the issues concerning the drain.

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Officials consented on placing wetlands near the drain, which will not only help in checking the flooding of the expressway, but will also boost the depleting groundwater level.

DLF Foundation, India Water Partnership and INTACH jointly organised this workshop.

“Watershed management needs to be looked at on a priority basis to avoid sewage from flowing into water bodies. Natural water bodies need to be revived and encroachments need to be removed in the interest of lending recreational value to water bodies,” Keshav Chandra, secretary, environment, Delhi government, said.

According to officials, the natural flow of the rain run-off from the Aravallis through Badshahpur drain into the Najafgarh drain before emptying into the Yamuna was hampered last year.

Due to the high silt level in the Najafgarh drain at the interjunction of the two drains, the stream bed was raised, causing the backflow from Badshahpur drain to drift towards Gurgaon.

“While the part of the Najafgarh drain that falls under Delhi territory has embankments, there’s none on the Haryana side. Hence, developing Najafgarh drain is a priority. The wetland project, spread over 700 acres, is likely to cost over 7,000 crore. With the project being capital intensive, we could consider a public-private partnership model for implementing it,” MCG commissioner V Umashankar said.

Rao Inderjit Singh, Union minister of state for urban development who was the chief guest at the event, said, “Water conservation and sewage disposal are essential issues which need to be addressed for Gurugram’s proper growth and these have become an important concern for our future generation.”

Last month, in a meeting attended by officials from uirban development ministry, officials of Delhi and Haryana governments and those of various civic bodies under them, the problem leading to last year’s flooding was discussed. Silt deposits at the Najafgarh drain was held as one of the major reasons for the situation.

Read I Gurgaon: Huda pins hope on Khandsa drain expansion, Najafgarh drain de-silting to rid city of waterlogging

Najafgarh drain originates from the Aravallis and passes through Gurgaon and New Delhi before emptying into the Yamuna. Since 1978, the drain has served as the channel for discharging stormwater from Haryana and New Delhi. Over time, it has become the largest sewage carrying drain in NCR and discharges over 2,000 MLD of waste into the Yamuna.

Among the other dignitaries present at the workshop were D Suresh, commissioner of Gurgaon, Vinay Pratap Singh, deputy commissioner, Keshav Chandra, secretary, environment, Delhi government and officials from the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram, Haryana urban development authority, Irrigation department, WWF ,DLF and CGWB.

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  • ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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    Kartik Kumar is a correspondent with the Hindustan Times and has covered beats such as crime, transport, health and consumer courts. Kartik currently covers municipal corporation, Delhi Metro and Rapid Metro.

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