Ahead of the monsoon, the Apex Committee of Delhi Government held a meeting to review flood control measures and released the Flood Control Order 2017 on Tuesday. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal along with Chief Secretary MM Kutty and other stake holders presented the measures taken by the civic agencies to overcome the problems of water logging flooding and preparedness to deal with any eventuality during the current flood season.
The Chief Minister also has proposed Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for cleaning of drainage. A Central Flood control room has also been established under the control of District Magistrate East in office which will operate till October 15, 2017.
"The process of cleaning the drains being used by the PWD and the MCDs in most of the cases is very primitive. Garbage from the drains are kept on the side of the road and are then taken away when they dry up. In the process a part of the garbage again goes back in the drain. It is done nowhere in the world. We must move to modern technology.
One of the solutions is the use of super suckers and we must prepare estimates for cleaning all the drains with super suckers from next year," said Chief Minister.
"There is multiplicity of agencies in Delhi as far as cleaning of drains is concerned. We must try for a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for better coordination and cleaning. Such an integrated body will help in the long term," the CM added.
He also asked the officials, "Whether there was something to know in advance the chances of floods after looking at the prediction of monsoonIJ"
"All these departments intimated the area of their jurisdiction length of Drains, Roads and Sewage lines, Machineries available with them, vulnerable points from the flood point of views, additional man powers, setting up of Control Room twenty four seven hour 1077 and 22015234 Helpline and challenges/strategies to cope with the water logging and flood condition during the ensuing monsoon season," a Delhi government official said.
The Divisional Commissioner, while commenting upon the presentation made, highlighted the main features and importance of the said manual. The Divisional Commissioner directed that commissioners of MCDs should allow disposal of silt, removed from drains by various departments at the sites to ensure that the silt does not flow back into the drains during rains.
A Central Flood Control Room has been established to assist the Apex Committee functioning round the clock at lM Bund, Shashtri Nagar, Delhi. This control room is functioning since June 15 and will continue to function till October 15 or till monsoon withdraws, whichever is later. The SDM Preet Vihar will be the Officer-in-charge of the Central Flood Control Room. The contact number of this control room is 22051234 (Disaster Management Cell), 22428773 and 22428774.