Desilting of drains to be over by June 15: Sisodia

New Delhi: The Public Works Department (PWD) has completed 80% of the desilting work and the remaining work will be completed by June 15 2022, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia who also hold the PWD portfolio, said on Monday

New Delhi: The Public Works Department (PWD) has completed 80% of the desilting work and the remaining work will be completed by June 15 2022, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia who also hold the PWD portfolio, said on Monday.

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Sisodia was undertaking review of PWD’s monsoon preparations.

He added that the from June 15 onwards, the department will also set up a central control room from where ten critical waterlogging sites in Delhi will be monitored 24x7 through CCTV cameras. A total of 2,064 km of stormwater drain comes under PWD.

“We are making preparations on a war footing to prevent waterlogging in Delhi during monsoon this year. PWD has identified various hotspots of waterlogging in the capital and has been working to prepare such infrastructure, which will prevent waterlogging in future,” Sisodia said.

A PWD official explained that localized action plans and interventions have been planned for critical waterlogging locations. At Pul Prahladpur Underpass, which had recently witnessed a death due to drowning in waterlogged underpass a week ago, PWD is constructing an underground sump of 0.7 million litres capacity and a permanent pump house of 600 horsepower, a senior official said. “The construction work of the underground sump and pump house will be completed before 15 June. Along with this, seven temporary pumps will also be installed here, which will have a total capacity of 500 horsepower. 80% construction work of underground sump and pump house has been completed. Rest of the construction work will be completed by June 15,” official said. PWD has also installed 7 CCTV cameras through which the situation will be monitored from the PWD’s control room 24*7.

Similarly, at Zakhira underpass, PWD is installing screens to stop the waste of the railway line and this work will be completed by June 10.

“The pump capacity is being increased to 370 horsepower. During monsoon, waste from temporary drains built by railways blocks the underpass. Due to this the water pumps get clogged and cause waterlogging in the area,” official said.

The department is installing nine pumps and constructing a 0.1 million litre sump well near IP Estate Ring Road opposite WHO Building and reconstruction of old stormwater drains is being undertaken near Jahangir Puri Metro Station Road. Other critical waterlogging points where remedial actions are being taken include Karala Kanjhawala Road, Minto-Bridge, Loni road roundabout.