Delhi govt plans to install boom barriers on Shahdara drain outfall

Boom barriers are floating devices, which are used on rivers across the world to trap and remove waste from entering larger water bodies

The Irrigation and Flood Control department (I&FC) of the Delhi government is planning to install floating trash boom barriers at two locations on the outfall of the Shahdara drain to intercept and prevent floating waste and debris from entering the Yamuna. A tender has already been floated for the same, officials said.

A temple in the Yamuna in New Delhi was submerged after water was released from Haryana, on Sunday. (Vipin Kumar/HT Photo)

The project is likely to cost ₹10 lakh, the tender said, a copy of which HT has seen. Work is required to be completed within 75 days of awarding of the tender, it said. The boom barrier should have a tensile strength of 180–200kg and a minimum guarantee period of one year has been mandated for the material, the tender adds, stating work will be carried out under the supervision of the executive engineer of the I&FC’s civil division 3.

“The trash boom shall be permanently inflated and made of synthetic fabric such as nylon or polyester coated with PVC. The tensile strength shall be 180-200kg,” said the tender, adding that all accessories, including shore anchors, ropes and buoys needed to be supplied as part of the tender.

“At each 25-metre connection, an anchor has to be deployed according to specification and drawing...complete in all respects...for controlling trash in flowing water,” the tender said.

Boom barriers are floating devices, which are being increasingly used on rivers across the world to trap and remove waste from entering larger water bodies such as lakes or seas. Among the major drains that outfall into the Yamuna, Shahdara is the second largest polluter.

Data shared by Delhi’s environment department with the National Green Tribunal-appointed high-level committee on the Yamuna in January 2023 had identified that the Najafgarh drain accounted for 68.71% of all wastewater being discharged into the Yamuna, followed by the Shahdara drain (10.9%) and the Barapullah drain (3.15%).

The plan to install boom barriers follows similar installations on the uncovered portion of Kushak drain in May – to prevent waste from entering the covered stretch. In March, a similar tender was floating for installing a boom barrier on the Barapullah drain.