Permanent fix for flooding at Minto Bridge this year

An independent drain along Minto Road in central Delhi that came up in April this year as a trial measure to prevent the perennial waterlogging problem underneath the Minto Bridge has succeeded in resolving the issue, and the public works department (PWD) plans to widen the new drain after the monsoon, said a senior government official on Tuesday.

The Minto Bridge success story was highlighted in the last drainage review meeting chaired by lieutenant governor Anil Baijal on July 19, which was also attended by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and Delhi PWD minister Satyendar Jain, said the official adding that the decision to widen the new independent drainage system on Minto Road was taken in that meeting.

“There was no waterlogging underneath Minto Bridge

NEW DELHI:

because of elaborate arrangements made there to avoid water accumulation. Nine pumps have been installed to flush out water from Minto bridge. Sound alarms along with blinkers and CCTVS have also been set up near the bridge for swift action and real time monitoring,” said an official on Tuesday.

He further said, “Case specific solutions were also adopted in the Minto bridge waterlogging case. Usually, water from Minto Bridge area used to get mixed with a sewer line of DJB on DDU Marg, which used to cause back flow of water and eventually lead to waterlogging in the area. To prevent that, we did an experiment by making a new drain along the Minto Road so that storm water no longer merged with the sewer drain. Now, there is no waterlogging underneath Minto Bridge... The experiment has worked.”

The official further said the work on widening the drain will start after this monsoon and it should be finished this year.

After the July 19 meeting, Kejriwal said that the Delhi government will redesign the city’s drainage system and identify more waterlogging hot spots.

“I am pleased with the work done by our agencies... In Delhi, it is said if Minto Bridge gets waterlogged, then monsoons have begun... But, this time, Minto Bridge is the talk of the town for all the good reasons… We know of 147 such vulnerable points. If we conduct extensive mapping, we can enlist all possible vulnerable points. If solutions for all vulnerable points are planned... like Minto Bridge, then we can free Delhi of waterlogging,” he said.

After rains on Monday and Tuesday last week, traffic from at least 20 underpasses across the city was diverted after they were all flooded. On Monday, a man drowned at the flooded Pul Prahladpur underpass.