Underground reservoir to fix ITO waterlogging, says PWD

An official said a plan has been devised to construct a sump well to eliminate waterlogging at ITO and it will also help aid the Minto Road’s vulnerable site.

The Delhi government’s Public Works Department (PWD) will construct an underground reservoir with a capacity to hold 1.6 million litres of runoff water near the busy ITO junction to permanently address the chronic waterlogging that plagues the area during monsoons, officials aware of the matter said on Monday.

The agency will operate this “sump well reservoir” in conjunction with the ITO pumphouse to provide a buffer in case of heavy rainfall episodes. (HT PHOTO)

HT graphics.

The agency will operate this “sump well reservoir” in conjunction with the ITO pumphouse to provide a buffer in case of heavy rainfall episodes.

A government official said that a plan has been devised to construct a sump well – a structure generally made at the lowest point of a basement to collect water in order to protect the structure from flooding – to eliminate waterlogging at ITO and it will also help aid the Minto Road’s vulnerable site.

“A sump well with a capacity of 1.6 million litres will be built near the ITO pump house, so that water from the surrounding catchment area can be chanelled into the sump well,” the official said, adding that the well will collect runoff from the surrounding catchment and channel it into Drain No 12A, which discharges into the Yamuna river.

The project is likely to cost around ₹2 crore and will be constructed over the next four months. “We are aiming to complete the sump well by May-June so that the facility can be kept ready for the next monsoon season,” the official added.

The PWD has invited bids, and the executing firm is expected to be finalized by early February, according to one of the officials cited above.

Officials cited the area’s topography, which causes slow water outflow, as the primary reason for frequent flooding on stretches like Indraprastha Marg, which connects Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg with the Ring Road and houses key government building such as the Income Tax Office.

Since ITO is one of the busiest junctions in the city, execution will pose significant challenges due to the junction’s extreme traffic volume and space constraints.

“Work has to be executed without disrupting the traffic as limited space will be available for the execution of work. The contractor will have to carefully plan his sequence of operations so that the traffic moves unhindered at all times. The traffic diversion plans will require prior approval from the Delhi Traffic Police,” the official said.

This initiative follows smaller-scale past efforts at other locations.

In 2022-23, PWD had set up a 250,000-litre underground water tank to address the waterlogging problem at ITO near the World Health Organization office on Ring Road. PWD officials said that the stretch near WHO has seen improvement after the underground tank’s installation.

Last year, the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) had initiated work on the development of a 500,000-litre underground reservoir near the Purana Quila Road to tackle waterlogging in Lutyens’ Delhi.After Purana quila, NDMC has also approved more such buffer sumps near Bharti Nagar and Golf links .