DMRC diverted slum sewage into pond, DUSIB informs NGT

New DelhiThe Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) has informed the National Green Tribunal (NGT) that sewage from a 2,511-household slum cluster in south Delhi’s Rangpuri Pahari was diverted into a nearby pond by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) during construction of the underground Mahipalpur Metro station in 2024, allegedly without informing the shelter agency

New Delhi

The diversion led to wastewater accumulating in the pond and eventually overflowing, DUSIB said. (Photo for representation)

The Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) has informed the National Green Tribunal (NGT) that sewage from a 2,511-household slum cluster in south Delhi’s Rangpuri Pahari was diverted into a nearby pond by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) during construction of the underground Mahipalpur Metro station in 2024, allegedly without informing the shelter agency.

The diversion led to wastewater accumulating in the pond and eventually overflowing, DUSIB said.

In a status report filed before the tribunal in an ongoing case dated November 5, DUSIB said sewage from the cluster, known as Rangpuri Pahari, was earlier discharged into a larger drain constructed by the Public Works Department (PWD) near Vasant Kunj Road. However, during metro construction in 2024, DMRC stopped this arrangement and diverted the discharge into the pond, the letter stated.

“At no point of time did the said discharge flow directly into the said pond,” DUSIB said in the affidavit, adding that the diversion had been carried out unilaterally by DMRC without any intimation or communication to the agency.

The affidavit estimated the cluster’s total sewage discharge at approximately 27.87 kilolitres per day (KLD). DUSIB said wastewater from community toilet complexes was routed through septic tanks into the Delhi Jal Board’s sewer line and did not flow into the pond. The remaining 6.97 KLD was channelled through a drain constructed by DUSIB into the PWD drain.

Following the pond’s overflow, DMRC initiated pumping and drainage arrangements, the report said. DUSIB added that the accumulated water was currently being pumped into the PWD drain through an operational arrangement, even as construction work by DMRC continued.

In response, a senior DMRC official said the agency is not a party in this case, and that the Delhi Metro has only improved drainage in the region with the assistance of the drain-owning agency.

The cluster is listed at serial number 165 among DUSIB’s 675 notified JJ bastis and is divided into four camps — Inder Camp, Israel Camp, Hoti Camp and Shanker Camp. The land is partly owned by the Delhi Development Authority and partly by the Delhi government’s forest department. DUSIB said its role was limited to providing basic amenities, including cement-concrete drains, pavements and stormwater drainage.