MCD plans ambitious waterway on Najafgarh drain

A senior municipal official associated with the project stated that the drain between Timarpur amd Basai Darapur will be developed as a waterway for the operation of passenger and goods boats

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has been tasked with a series of exercises as part of the ambitious project to turn a 12km stretch of the heavily polluted Najafgarh drain into a waterway corridor, civic body officials aware of the matter said on Thursday.

MCD has fixed a 10-day deadline to complete de-silting of the drain catchment area, and a seven-day deadline to check the outlets of all community toilet complexes. (HT Photo)

A senior municipal official associated with the project stated that the drain between Timarpur amd Basai Darapur will be developed as a waterway for the operation of passenger and goods boats in the coming months under the coordination of the lieutenant governor Vinai Kumar Saxena’s office.

“Last week, municipal commissioner Gyanesh Bharti reviewed the project with the engineering department and Keshavpuram zone, under which a large chunk of this stretch falls. Timelines have been fixed for the sanitation wing, and the veterinary and engineering departments,” the official said, adding that resources from neighbouring zones will be diverted to expedite the project.

Bharti has fixed a 10-day deadline to complete de-silting of the drain catchment area, and a seven-day deadline to check the outlets of all community toilet complexes along the drain to prevent direct untreated sewage discharge. A 2km stretch has been de-silted so far, according to the irrigation and flood control department.

An official from the Keshavpuram zone said that there are 17 sludge drains which discharge their contents directly into this section of the Najafgarh drain.

“Over the last month, a series of inspection of all these drains and their discharging points were carried out by the MCD and Delhi Jal Board (DJB). The DJB are tapping their drains and diverting the discharge in their sewage systems for which tenders have already been floated. The municipal commissioner has directed to ensure that no such point remains unattended, and all 17 drains are diverted by next month,” the official said.

An official from the sanitation department said that during the inspections, the teams noted that large amounts of solid municipal waste is still being thrown directly into the drain at various hotspots such as Vijay Nagar, Christian Colony, Swarna Ashram, GTB Nagar and Indra Vihar. “The department of environment management services (sanitation) will be deploying one monitoring teach for each area while the private concessionaire handling the waste management in the zone has been tasked with carrying out IEC (information, education and communication) activities in these areas. Once the drive is complete, we will start issuing challans to the defaulters,” the official said.

Multiple agencies are working on the rejuvenation and beautification of the Najafgarh drain and lake, working on fixed timelines set by LG Saxena and Delhi’s Environment Management Plan (EMP) for the lake, submitted to the National Green Tribunal (NGT).

The LG has been monitoring progress around the rejuvenation of the Najafgarh drain since June, when he first visited the drain. Saxena had then suggested that the drain could be developed into an ecotourism hub with a navigable waterway where activities like boat rides and water sports could be offered.

Neha Sinha from the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), who was also part of the expert committee that framed Delhi’s Environment Management Plan (EMP), said while boating and other ecotourism activities can be allowed on the drain, no such activities are planned or required near the eco-sensitive area of the Najafgarh jheel.

“Once cleaned, the drain can certainly facilitate such activities, but the initial focus is to trap all industries that are releasing effluents into drains which end up in the Najafgarh drain or the jheel. Sewage too needs to be trapped through sewage treatment plants and only when that is done, can other eco-tourism activities be looked at,” she said.