The de-silting and refurbishing of Najafgarh Drain have been completed on the stretch between Timarpur and Bharat Nagar before the scheduled date of January 2023, said Raj Niwas on Saturday. Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena has also appealed to the people living in colonies/localities along the banks of the Najafgarh Drain, not to throw garbage directly into and on the banks of the Drain.
“Works on cleaning and rejuvenation of the 57-km Drain using the extremely cost-effective Partial Gravitational De-silting Technology and trapping of 32 feeder drains bringing in unfettered sewage and silt into the drain, in the first phase on the stretch between Timarpur and Bharat Nagar, were started under the direct supervision of the L-G from towards the mouth of the drain in September and have begun to show concrete results,” as per the statement released by Raj Niwas.
“While the works of de-silting and restoration of embankments from Wazirabad to Timarpur had been completed in November end, further works on the 7.5 km stretch between Mall Road Bridge and Bharat Nagar, scheduled to be completed by the middle of January, 2023 is going on in full earnest and is ahead of schedule,” it stated.
“Any visitor to the site can see visible upgradation and change in terms of flowing water, absence of deep seated silt, repaired and refurbished embankments and trapped feeder drains that were hitherto flowing directly into the Najafgarh Drain,” the statement said. “It may be noted that apathy and neglect on part of Government Departments and agencies over the decades have converted this thriving and treasured, living water body into a stinking dead Drain, that apart from contributing maximum to the pollution of Yamuna possess a constant health hazard to the people living in its vicinity, apart from causing water-logging in its catchment area due to its inability to carry water,” it said.
“The Drain has become an almost stagnant reservoir of silt sewerage and sludge with over 80 Lakh tonnes of underwater solidified garbage / silt mounts, that has severely affected its flow and carrying capacity. Efforts during the past couple of months have led to more than 50,000 tonnes of silt getting removed and efforts are on to totally de-silt the water body in a time-bound manner,” it informed.
“In addition to this, 27,000 tonnes of surface garbage / silt, mostly accumulated on the outer periphery of the Drain have been removed and deposited on the banks. This in turn, is being lifted by Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) with immediate effect, at places, even by temporarily breaking the boundaries so as to reach, the otherwise inaccessible embankments,” it claimed.
Rejuvenation of Najafgarh Drain has been a focus area of the LG has held a series of meetings involving multiple civic agencies and undertaken several visits and boat rides in the drain in the last five months to monitor de-silting operations and overall cleaning of the Drain.
Putting in place a comprehensive plan of action that is cost effective and environmentally sustainable, Saxena has ensured seamless coordination between various stakeholders, the statement read.
“Saxena, in an emotional exhortation to the residents has underlined that, now that seemingly undoable task of rejuvenating Najafgarh Drain and revival of Sahibi river, had started becoming a reality, people should own-up their valuable legacy and keep it clean,” the statement further added.