New Delhi: Delhi government is working on a war footing to clean the Yamuna before 2025. To ensure this, the cleaning of the Najafgarh drain is the priority of the government. Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia recently held a review meeting with the committee of senior officials constituted for cleaning the Najafgarh drain and thoroughly reviewed each project chalked out to eliminate the pollution of the Najafgarh drain.
Sisodia said, “Making Yamuna pollution free is the priority of the Delhi Government. Chief Minister has said that the Yamuna will be cleaned before the 2025 elections. Various departments of the government are working on a war footing to ensure this.”
He reviewed the progress of the desilting works of the Najafgarh drain in the first phase. Officials said that at present about 8 million cubic metres of silt has accumulated in the Najafgarh drain. In the first phase, the work of removing 10 lakh cubic metres of silt from the drain is going on a war footing and this work will be completed before the monsoon.
After desilting, the flow of the drain will be better and the vector-borne diseases will decrease. In the meeting, the project of constructing a 59 km road between Chhawla to Basaidarapur on both sides of the Najafgarh drain was also reviewed. This project has been approved in the discussion phase. This project worth Rs 616 crore will benefit lakhs of people living in hundreds of colonies including Punjabi Bagh, Paschim Vihar, Nilothi, Baprola, Kakrola, Najafgarh, Dwarka, Vikaspuri, Uttam Nagar, Janakpuri, Chhawla. They will get major relief from the traffic congestion.
During the review meeting, the officials told the Deputy Chief Minister that mixed untreated and contaminated sewer water from industries, animal dung and solid waste are the reasons for the accumulation of silt in the Najafgarh drain. At present, about 8 million cubic metres of silt is accumulated in the Najafgarh drain. Officials said that in the first phase, the project to remove 10 lakh cubic metres of silt from the drain has been approved and work is going on a war footing for the same. The first phase of desilting will be completed before the monsoon of 2023.
Presently, desilting work is going on 5 stretches of the Najafgarh drain. Of which, 1.5 lakh cubic metres of silt between the Outer Ring Road to Khayala Bridge stretch before monsoon, 1 lakh cubic metre of silt between the Basaidarapur Bridge to Timarpur Bridge, 3.5 lakh cubic metres of silt from Jhatikara stretch, 3 lakh cubic metre of silt from Khyala to Basaidarapur and Ronhola stretch will be removed before the monsoon.
Under this project, 2 humps at two places in the Najafgarh drain will be cleaned. This will improve the flow of water in the Najafgarh drain as well as reduce the menace of mosquitoes. The public will get relief from vector-borne diseases. After the removal of the humps, the discharge of water will reach Yamuna more quickly than before and a smooth flow of water will be ensured and the public will also get relief from the problem of backflow of water.
At present, the Flood and Irrigation Control Department is using its existing machines for desilting. To expedite the work of desilting, the government has released Rs 68 crores. Under this, 10 state-of-the-art machines will be bought and used by the department for desilting. These machines include Amphibious Excavator, Multipurpose Dredger, and Weed Harvester.
During the meeting, the project for the construction of a 59 km road of two lanes between Chhawla and Basaidarapur on both sides of the Najafgarh drain was also reviewed. This project has been approved in the discussion phase and the work on this will start soon. Lakhs of people living in hundreds of colonies including Punjabi Bagh, Paschim Vihar, Nilothi, Baprola, Kakrola, Najafgarh, Dwarka, Vikaspuri, Uttam Nagar, Janakpuri, Chhawla will be benefited upon completion of this project costing about Rs 616 crore. This road will bring a major relief from traffic for the people living in the aforementioned colonies.
This proposed road of 59 km will be linked to the Inner-Ring Road at Basaidarapur, Outer Ring Road at Keshavpur, Pankha Road at Vikaspuri, Najafgarh Road at Kakrola and several important roads leading to Dwarka Expressway and Airport. This will benefit lakhs of people in Delhi and NCR.
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