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Deadline days away, but 50% of Lucknow’s drains still choked
The seven main drains where the desilting works are underway are Haider Canal, Qila Mohammadi, Husariya, Sarkata, Pata, Sagra, and Didoli
As part of the preparedness for the upcoming monsoon, Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) has, so far, been able to clean only 50 per cent of the city’s major drain network, as admitted by one of its senior officials on Monday. This is despite a deadline of May 31.
LMC chief engineer (Electrical and Mechanical) Manoj Prabhat said only half of the major drains spanning 68 km in length could be desilted so far.
The seven main drains where the desilting works are underway are Haider Canal, Qila Mohammadi, Husariya, Sarkata, Pata, Sagra, and Didoli. “Haider Canal is the biggest and spans 20 km from Shakuntala Mishra University to 1090 Chauraha. Qila Mohammadi in Zone 8 spans around 6 km, while Sarkata covers 9 km. Others pass through thickly populated zones such as Vikas Nagar and Tedhi Puliya,” said Prabhat.
Prabhat stressed that the desilting of the major drains was crucial to increase their capacity to hold rainwater and prevent urban flooding. He said the corporation aimed to complete the remaining work before the May 31 deadline. “We’re currently dumping the removed silt at LMC’s rubbish workshop. It may later be used for landfilling,” he said.
LMC’s mechanical and electrical department is using nearly 800 litres of diesel every day to run around 50 heavy earthmovers and cleaning machines for cleaning of the big drains. “The daily cost of running these machines is around ₹70,000. Work is being done six days a week, with only Sundays off,” an LMC official said.
Meanwhile, the cleaning of 335 medium-sized drains, which fall under the ambit of LMC’s civil department, started only this past Monday. LMC chief engineer (Civil) Mahesh Verma said the corporation had earmarked around ₹12 crore for the purpose. “Our teams have begun work across various zones and we’re on track to finish it by May 31,” Verma said. Verma added that private agencies had been engaged for the cleaning of medium-sized drains.
Amid claims that the civic body was yet again ignoring smaller drains, located in residential colonies, despite repeated flooding during rains in the past, LMC officials maintained that the cleaning work was underway across zones.
Responding to such claims, city health officer PK Srivastava said their cleaning drive was launched on May 1 and that he had directed all zonal officers to act. “I don’t have the updated details yet...” Srivastava, however, admitted.
Meanwhile, municipal commissioner Gaurav Kumar said he was personally reviewing the progress. “I am making field visits and have instructed all departments to stick to the May 31 deadline. Delays will not be tolerated,” he added.
‘Deploy addl equipment to clean drains’
Civic officials were on Monday directed to get all the major city drains cleaned before the monsoon and launch an intense campaign against encroachments.
“Deploy additional manpower and machinery to complete drain cleaning on a war footing,” divisional commissioner Roshan Jacob told the officials. Of the seven major drains in the city, only two had been cleaned so far, they told her. Jacob also directed immediate repairs and regular cleaning of community toilets.
