E-Paper
Pipeline project on CISF road delayed by four months, daily commuters suffer
The Covid-19 pandemic has affected the UP Jal Nigam’s plan to flow treated wastewater into the Hindon river. The project, that was to be completed by July, now is likely to be completed only by the end of November.
The pipelines would take water from three sewage treatment plants (STPs) at Indirapuram of capacities 56 million litres a day (mLD), 48MLD and 72 MLD. Work began in February, but the pandemic and the ensuing lockdown hampered its progress.
“There was no work for about two to three months due to the lockdown. We also have to undertake shifting of drains and the Ganga water pipelines in the process. We think that the work will be expedited in October when Ganga water supplies are stopped due to maintenance of the Upper Ganga Canal,” said GS Srivastava, chief engineer of UP Jal Nigam.
He added that the work was about 60% complete at present.
The project was taken up under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) scheme. At present, the treated water from the three STPs is taken through a drain but the high volume of discharge from the three STPs often overflooded the CISF Road.
For the project, one side of the CISF Road was dug up, causing major snarls over a 2.5-km stretch. The road caters to traffic from the Mohan Nagar Link Road, Hindon canal rod, Vasundhara and Indirapuram and connects it directly to NH-9.
“As a result of the work, one side of the CISF Road is closed and the other side caters to both side traffic. During peak hours, there are frequent jams. In monsoon season, the situation becomes worse,” said BK Pandey, a resident of Vaishali.
“The entire area is in a complete mess and affects large number of commuters and residents in Indirapuram. We had suggested that the CISF Road be made a one-way and the traffic from Link Road and Vasundhra should be diverted to Canal Road. But the traffic police has not responded,” said Alok Kumar, founder member of federation of association of apartment owners.
The traffic police on their part said that their personnel have been put on duty on the CISF Road.
“The diversion is not feasible as it will lead to longer travel for those who wish to go to nearby areas in Indirapuram. Further, there are chances that many vehicles will move on internal roads of Indirapuram locality and create problems for local residents,” said Ramanand Kushwaha, superintendent of police (traffic). “At the CISF Road, there are low lying areas which results in water logging during rain. This often leads to slow traffic. Our personnel remain deployed to control traffic. At present we have no alternative but to control traffic through our personnel.”