Even as the District Commi-ssioner (Central) sought a week to submit a detailed enquiry report into the causes of flooding of the basement of Rau’s coaching centre which claimed three lives Saturday, Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar, in a note to the Delhi government, underlined lacunae in desilting of the capital’s drainage network. The District Magistrate (Central), according to Divisional Commissioner Manish Kumar Gupta, had “requested for more time to conduct detailed enquiry to establish the causes of the incident” and had been directed to “complete the detailed enquiry within next 7 days”. Revenue Minister Atishi had issued directions for a detailed magisterial enquiry into the incident immediately after it came to light on Saturday evening. From flagging the lack of a Master Drainage Plan for the city over the last three decades, to pending desilting of over 4,700 km of the Delhi Jal Board’s 9,970 km internal lines, Kumar said in the note that the minister, Atishi, was yet to issue instructions. Reacting to the Chief Secretary’s note, a senior government official questioned why the magisterial enquiry report was not submitted on time despite its sanctity in law; with regards to issues flagged by Kumar, the official said written instructions on these had been issued several times but had not been followed through by officials concerned. In the note, the CS pointed to a report on the sewage issues of the city, dated March 15 this year. As per the note, the report said that trunk lines (above 1,000 mm in diameter) were never de-silted prior to 2023 and that it was decided in the High-Level Committee chaired by the Lt. Governor to de-silt them. Almost 68.82 km out of total 204.93 km of trunk lines were de-silted, the report said adding that the Delhi Jal Board be recommended to finish work by the end of this year. The report also spoke about the unsatisfactory pace of desilting work in peripheral lines and internal lines. It is important to note that none of these lines mentioned in the report fall under the Municipal Corporation of Delhi. The CS’s note also speaks about the Drainage Master Plan prepared by IIT-Delhi, which was not accepted by the Delhi government. “Subsequently, while it was decided on 06.09.2021 to prepare three separate Drainage Master Plans for Najafgarh Basin; Barapullah Basin & Trans-Yamuna Basin, however, no substantive work could take place,” the note stated. It added that consultancy work for the Najafgarh Basin was awarded on June 16, 2023, with a detailed project report expected in February 2025; for the Barapullah and Trans-Yamuna Basin, it had been awarded on May 25 this year and the DPR was expected in April, 2025 “despite delays”. Reacting to the note, the senior government official denied any delay on part of the Delhi government in issuing instructions related to the desilting of drains in Delhi, adding that work in this regard was not only ongoing but progressing on a daily basis.
