Kejriwal proposes special body to clean city drains

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday suggested constitution of a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to clean drains — lack of which leads to waterlogging and traffic jams during the monsoon every year.

The chief minister also stressed the need to shift from manual cleaning to mechanised mode for better results.

Speaking at a meeting of the apex committee to review flood control measures, the chief minister said an SPV was the only way forward to minimize the negative impact of multiplicity of agencies in governance in Delhi.

“There is multiplicity of agencies in Delhi as far as cleaning of drains is concerned. We must try for a special purpose vehicle (for better coordination and cleaning. Such an integrated body will help in the long term,” he said.

Till the time such a facility is put in place, the chief minister stressed the need for coordinated efforts among various agencies to prevent water logging and other such problems during monsoon.

“The process of cleaning the drains being used by the PWD and the MCDs in most of the cases is very primitive. Garbage from the drains is kept on the side of the road and taken away when they dry up. In the process, a part of the garbage again goes back into the drains. It is done nowhere in the world. We must move to modern technology. One of the solutions is the use of super suckers and we must prepare estimates for cleaning all the drains with super suckers from next year,” Kejriwal directed the officials present at the meeting.

Besides the chief minister, PWD minister Satyendar Jain, transport minister Kailash Gahlot, water minister Rajender Pal Gautam and chief secretary MM Kutty and other department heads attended the meeting.

All the stake holder agencies presented measures they have taken to overcome the problems of water logging and flooding and preparedness to deal with any eventuality during the current flood season.

A manual containing important information called Flood Control Order 2017 was unveiled by the chief minister.

The booklet contains telephone numbers of the control rooms, details of flood control machinery, operation methods such as danger level and flashing of warnings, list of vulnerable points, duties of various departments and other agencies.

There is a multiplicity of agencies in Delhi as far cleaning of drains is concerned.