Panel asks residents to keep Kushak drain clean

The 6.5km stormwater drain near South Extension-2 has been carrying sewer water from areas such as Mehruali-Badarpur Road, Chirag Dilli, INA, Defence Colony and Pushp Vihar.

While the polluted Kushak drain in south Delhi has been partially cleaned this monsoon, the Yamuna pollution monitoring committee has asked civic agencies to work with a residents’ welfare association (RWA) to ensure that the “effort is sustained” and that no more garbage is dumped in it.

A view of the Kushak Nala running under Barapulla awaiting cleaning in New Delhi , India, on Saturday, June 18, 2016. ((Photo by Saumya Khandelwal/ Hindustan Times))

The committee, appointed by the National Green Tribunal, has asked residents group led by environment activist Rajeev Suri to fortnightly report to the committee in case floating garbage was found in the drain, the minutes of the committee meeting, held earlier this month, said.

The 6.5km stormwater drain near South Extension-2 has been carrying sewer water from areas such as Mehruali-Badarpur Road, Chirag Dilli, INA, Defence Colony and Pushp Vihar. Stormwater drains are meant only to carry rainwater.

“Cleaning of the drain during the desilting drive before the onset of monsoon is just a cosmetic measure. Dry garbage is still being dumped into the drain. Besides, sewer water flows into it and stagnates, as a portion of the drain near Defence Colony was covered some years ago. The cemented slope does not allow the water to recede, which turns it into a mosquito breeding ground. Long-term measures are required to resolve such environment issues,” Suri, an environment activist and petitioner in various legal matters related to environment and urbanisation, who will be leading the group of residents in the task, said.

A resident of Defence Colony, Suri had filed a petition about the problems related to Kushak drain before the NGT and later before the Supreme Court. The matter was referred by the Supreme Court to the Yamuna pollution monitoring panel.

Also, the Delhi high court has in several orders, including the latest one on June 29, directed the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) and public works department (PWD) to clean the drain and highlight action taken by them.

The committee also pulled up the SDMC stating that the civic body had only issued seven fines for dumping garbage, and the number is “too small” considering that the SDMC itself has accepted that garbage dumping into the drain was rampant, especially from habitations along the drain.

“While there is a marked difference and the drain is free from garbage in comparison to the pictures shared in April. The effort has to be sustained, for which both the RWA and the SDMC will work in tandem…Now that there are signages placed around the area to not dump garbage, there must be no excuse to go soft on those who use the drain as a dumping ground,” the committee stated.

However, a senior SDMC official said they have only limited jurisdiction over the drain and untreated sewer water flowing into the drain was a larger problem when it comes to cleaning the drain.

“It is a stormwater drain and no sewage should be flowing into it. We have been cracking down on garbage dumping and are taking measures to prevent it altogether,” the official said, on the condition of anonymity.