Najafgarh drain to be developed as eco-tourism destination, says L-G

Lieutenant-governor Vinai Kumar Saxena discussed with chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and other department heads the rejuvenation of Najafgarh drain and its development as eco-tourism destination in a meeting held on Wednesday, officials of the L-G’s office said

Lieutenant-governor Vinai Kumar Saxena discussed with chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and other department heads the rejuvenation of Najafgarh drain and its development as eco-tourism destination in a meeting held on Wednesday, officials of the L-G’s office said.

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“The L-G and the chief minister have agreed to turn the much-maligned Najafgarh drain into an asset through planning aimed at long term solutions,” Raj Niwas stated in a statement on Thursday.

Saxena reiterated that for the drain to be developed into an eco-tourism spot with a navigable waterway, where activities like boat rides, water sports and commuting could take place, it needed to have a depth of at least four metres. “This could be achieved by undertaking a comprehensive desilting and dredging exercise in a timebound manner,” he added.

Saxena had inspected the drain -- the biggest in the city and a major contributor to pollution in the Yamuna -- on Saturday. The Najafgarh nallah is 57km long and stretches from Dhansa near the Haryana border to the Yamuna near Wazirabad.

Yamuna Cleaning Cell, a multiagency body constituted by the Delhi government last year to expedite cleaning of the river, has also been working on specific interventions to tackle pollution in Najafgarh drain.

Large sections of the drain are expected to have weirs, floating wetlands and aerators for treatment of water along with landscaping on its periphery, as per a plan announced by the body in February this year.

Raj Niwas on Thursday also said Saxena and Kejriwal have directed officials to explore within the next couple of days the possibility of engaging an expert agency to break the silt that has settled in the drain so as to achieve the dual purposes of having the loosened silt carried away by the normal flow of water, thereby allowing the drain to achieve the desired depth. “In addition to that, it was directed that meshes of different density be used at graded distances on the smaller drains that empty into the Najafgarh drain so as to intercept and stop solid waste and heavy silt,” an official said, asking not to be named.

The departments have also been asked to explore the possibility of using boats fitted with cutters to shred the water hyacinth in the drain. “The prevailing practice is to have earthmovers remove and dump the hyacinth on the embankments but they eventually end up back in the drain. It was also decided to simultaneously start work on plantation of flowering and aesthetically appealing trees along the drain periphery,” the official added.

The Delhi government on Thursday said it will soon begin the work of beautifying and desilting Najafgarh drain and thereby reduce the pollution in the Yamuna. Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia held a review meeting with senior officials and technical team of the Dredging Corporation of India on Thursday.

“The specialists from Dredging Corporation of India inspected the Najafgarh drain on Thursday. The team of specialists will now do the data analysis and send its recommendations to the Delhi government within a week. Thereafter the work of desilting Najafgarh drain as well as removing water weeds will be done in phases,” a government spokesperson said.