One of the pillars of the defunct police chowki had blocked a drain and the authority had rerouted the sewage and connected it to a drain passing through Vasundhara Enclave.
Demolished portion of the police chowki
The efforts by residents of housing societies in East Delhi’s Vasundhara Enclave to solve drainage issues may soon bear fruit. The Public Works Department (PWD) has begun widening a storm water drain opposite Mahesh Apartments. A defunct police chowki, which was obstructing the flow of sewage, was also partially demolished two days ago.
The police chowki was built on a sewer-water drain that used to carry waste from New Ashok Nagar to Shahdara drain. As one of the pillars had been constructed right in the middle of the drain, it had become choked. The PWD had then rerouted the sewage and connected it to the sewer lines of housing societies, which resulted in the dirty water affecting the water supply of many apartments.
Sudhir Verma, a junior engineer of PWD who was present at the construction site, said, “Widening of a storm water drain has already begun. The portion of police chowki that had blocked the flow of sewage has been demolished. Moreover, a new storm water drain is under construction. The entire work will be complete in the next 15 days.”
Ever since the New Ashok Nagar drain was linked to sewer lines of housing societies, residents have been moving pillar to post for a solution to the problem. The Federation of Vasundhara Enclave Cooperative Group Housing Societies had even approached the National Green Tribunal (NGT) and it had ordered the demolition of the police chowki in 2016.
BS Rawat, a resident of Vasundhara Enclave who had escalated the matter to NGT, said, “We hope that the authorities do not repeat the same mistake in future. The development is a result of the collective effort of the residents.”
