Delhi’s drainage system to undergo changes: Kejriwal

‘Changes will be made based on suggestions from IIT-Delhi’

Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday said that changes will be made to Delhi’s drainage system based on suggestions received from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi to resolve the issue of waterlogging in the city.

The decision was taken at a meeting held to review the national capital’s drainage master plan. The meeting was chaired by Mr Kejriwal, according to the chief minister’s office (CMO).

Delhi has witnessed massive waterlogging this monsoon. Many arterial stretches, underpasses, and even residential areas were inundated after heavy rains in the city.

“Delhi to soon get freedom from waterlogging. Necessary changes suggested by IIT-Delhi will be implemented to further bolster the drainage system and make it foolproof. Every gap in the drainage system of Delhi has to be plugged. If there’s a fallacy in the slope of a drain, it needs to be fixed. If any drain is meeting a dead end, it needs to be corrected,” Mr Kejriwal said in a statement.

He said a proper plan should be chalked out for connecting smaller drains with the large drainage lines.

Mr Kejriwal said that consultants will be roped in to plan and present project reports for all drainage lines to expedite the implementation of projects.

According to a government statement, a Technical Expert Committee has been working to decide design parameters and technical inputs like rainfall intensity, return period, runoff coefficient, and retention period for Delhi’s drainage master plan while experts from IIT-Delhi have been roped in to analyse the drainage systems and suggest solutions for them.

The statement said that to enhance Delhi’s drainage system, studies were conducted using digital modelling of the physical drainage systems of the city.

A number of recommendations have been made for the Delhi Drainage Master Plan.

Some of these recommendations are that there should be no encroachments on storm water drains and sewage or waste materials should not come into storm water drains.

“No construction such as utilities and pillars of elevated road or Metros should be allowed inside storm water drains. Rejuvenation of water bodies should be ensured,” the statement said.

According to government data, there are about 2,846 drains in Delhi and their length is about 3,692 km, the majority of which are being managed by the public works department (PWD).

Delhi is divided into three major natural drainage basins—Trans Yamuna, Barapullah, and Najafgarh.

In addition, there are also some small drainage basins, the Aruna Nagar and Chandrawal, which drain directly into the Yamuna.

Earlier in the day, the CMO tweeted regarding the meeting and said, “Chief minister convened a review meeting on the city’s drainage master plan. Necessary changes will be made in the drains on the suggestions of IIT. Changes will be done keeping in view better discharge of water (during monsoon). Waterlogging problem of the city will be solved.”

Mr Kejriwal had, last month, said a “world-class drainage system” would be developed across the national capital.

Delhi to soon get freedom from waterlogging. Every gap in the drainage system of Delhi has to be plugged.

— Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi CM