Waterlogging in the national Capital may be a thing of the past soon as the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Government is working to sort the perennial problem out. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Chief Secretary Vijay Dev, Jal Board Vice Chairperson Raghav Chadha and PWD Minister Satyendar Jain chaired a review meeting on the drainage master plan on Tuesday at the Delhi Secretariat. And it was decided that drains in Delhi will have to undergo design changes in accordance with the suggestions of an expert panel from IIT- Delhi to ensure smooth flow of water in monsoon season or after heavy rains.
The expert team members are conducting a study on the drainage system using high-quality digital modeling. Soon after reviewing the master plan for the drainage system with senior officials, Kejriwal said that Delhi will soon get freedom from waterlogging and necessary changes will be implemented to further bolster the drainage system.
“Problems will be identified on the ground level; specific projects will be taken up to implement solutions for fixing slopes of drains, connecting storm drains to the larger drainage system. Consultants will be roped in to plan and present project reports for all drainage lines to expedite the implementation of the projects,” he said.
“Today CM Arvind Kejriwal chaired a review meeting on Delhi’s drainage master plan. Design changes will be introduced in drains in accordance with recommendations of IIT-Delhi. The focus will be to enable smooth flow of water during and after heavy rains. Waterlogging issues will be resolved,” said a tweet from the CM’s office after the meeting.
According to officials present in the meeting, two models have been deployed: One hydrological and second, urban storm water management model, to assess the total runoff in the drains and to provide drainage solution and dimensions to resolve existing problems.
According to the Public Works Department (PWD), Delhi Government, there are 2,846 drains in the Capital city and their length is 3,692 km. Delhi is divided into three major natural drainage basins -- Trans Yamuna, Barapullah and Najafgarh.
In addition, there are also some very small drainage basins, the Aruna Nagar and Chandrawal, which drain directly into the Yamuna.
Senior officials said the objective of the Delhi Drainage Master Plan is to formulate a drainage plan for the National Capital Territory of Delhi for 30 -35 years, compatible with the Master Plan of Delhi-2021 for improvement of the city’s drainage within a fixed time frame. A technical expert team will design parameters after understanding factors like – rainfall intensity, return period, runoff coefficient.
There were recommendations also made for the drainage master plan, for instance: No encroachments on storm water drains, no sewage in storm water drains, no solid waste or C&D waste to be allowed into storm water drains, effectiveness of de-silting of storm drains with public display of de-silting schedules, no storm water should be drained into sewer systems, no construction like utilities and pillars of elevated road/ Metros should be allowed inside storm water drains, design of new storm water drains should not be done in isolation, rejuvenation of water bodies and Low Impact Development Options, wherever feasible, such as infiltration trenches, rain gardens, bio-retention ponds, bio-swales, etc. in respective catchment areas of the drains. Also flood monitoring using sensors to improve flood management.