New drain channels to stop flooding
nGURUGRAM: A week after underpasses at both IFFCO Chowk and Rajiv Chowk were inundated following heavy rains and were subsequently closed for nearly two days, Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) officials said that they were building new drainage lines to prevent waterlogging.
In 2017, during the construction of the Rajiv Chowk underpass, underground channel drains were inadvertently blocked during construction work. Officials found the anomaly when the underpass was flooded in July 2018. Till date, officials confirmed, they have not been able to find the original underground channel drains.
The stretch leading to the underpass is located on a slope, resulting in rainwater from two residentialsectorsaccumulating at the facility.
An NHAI official who is privy to the matter said a drainage line for the underpass was laid last year but there were leveling issues. GMDA chief engineer Pradeep Kumar also said that levelling is an issue.
“There is a mismatch in levelling which is resulting in flooding during heavy rains. To fix this, we will build an additional drainage line for the underpass, routing it through the Tau Devi Lal sports complex towards the main HSVP master drain,” said Kumar.
Kumar said that the steps undertaken for fixing drainage lines at both IFFCO Chowk and Rajiv Chowk are part of GMDA’S new plan for finding “permanent and long-term” solution to the drainage problem in the city.
The two underpasses were among eight of the city’s 11 that had high rainwater accumulation on August 19. Although rainwater was cleared from both the underpasses on the same day, with heavy rain occurring on the following day as well, they were not opened to public until August 21 as a precautionary measure.
Kumar said estimates for the project have been made but he found some hurdles in the current route of the new line and suggested tweaks. “I have tweaked the drainage line and re-routed the line in some parts. These changes need approval from the GMDA CEO VS Kundu, after which we will commence the next phase,” said Kumar.
NEWDELHI: The Directorate of Revenue and Intelligence (DRI) seized a consignment of 504 smuggled gold bars of foreign origin worth Rs 43 crore and arrested eight persons from New Delhi railway station on Friday.
DRI officials, who didn’t wish to be named, described it as the largest consignment of gold the agency ever seized.
The eight arrived at New Delhi by the Dibrugarh-new Delhi Rajdhani Express on Friday. Officers said they concealed the gold bars in specially tailored vests and used fake Aadhaar cards.
“The smugglers used air, land and rail routes to locally transport the smuggled gold,” he added.
The suspects have been booked under the Customs Act, 1962, and have been remanded to judicial custody.