This monsoon, rain won’t trouble Delhiites, promises PWD minister

The Delhi government has promised that during the coming monsoon, Delhiites will not have to be bothered about waterlogged roads and, thus, unending traffic jams.

The Delhi government has promised that during the coming monsoon, Delhiites will not have to be bothered about waterlogged roads and, thus, unending traffic jams.

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Delhi public works department (PWD) minister Rajkumar Chauhan said his department has prepared a comprehensive plan to repair all roads that come under the PWD jurisdiction and clean stormwater drains along those stretches. The minister said the work will be completed before June 30.

Broken roads and blocked drains are two major reasons that lead to waterlogging during monsoon in the city. There are 126 locations across the Capital which are prone to waterlogging during rains.

The PWD has 458 kilometres of roads of its own, while it recently took over 745 kilometres of roads, which are more than 60 feet wide, from the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) before its split.

The department will also maintain all stormwater drains running along these roads, the minister said.

According to Chauhan, the PWD has already started desilting 75% drains that are being maintained by his department. He said the job to clean the remaining drains will also start soon.

Work to repair broken roads and fill potholes is also going on in full swing. There are some drains which also require major repair which will only be done after monsoon, a PWD official said.

"This is the first time we have taken up the job of desilting the drains; the MCD was doing it till now. To ensure there is no let up in the work, we have asked the engineers concerned to videograph the desilting work," Chauhan said.

"The officials have also been told to purchase or hire water suction pumps at the spots prone to waterlogging."

Chauhan said senior PWD engineers have been told to keep water pumps and additional manpower ready to drain out water from underpasses. In 2011, there was huge waterlogging at ITO Chungi and Dhaula Kuan underpass resulting in long traffic jams.

The PWD minister has also asked the traffic police to deploy adequate number of personnel across the city as traffic flow gets affected due to waterlogging, specially under the flyovers where two-wheeler riders and pedestrians take shelter in rains, and dysfunctional traffic signals.