MCD misses drain desilting date; city waterlogged after rain

“Work of cleaning drains connected with the Municipal Corporation of Delhi should be completed by June 28… To save Delhi from waterlogging, serious work has to be done at the zonal level,” MCD Mayor Shelly Oberoi had said in the statement.

The statement also revealed that only about 68% of work of removing silt from major drains had been completed.

After a spell of rainfall on Thursday, Delhi reported waterlogging on several roads.

The MCD received 9 waterlogging complaints from Baprola, Azad Market, Sadh Nagar, Shahpur Jat, Sarai Rohilla Station, Ashok Vihar, New Rajinder Nagar, Modi Mill in Kalkaji, and Seelampur. There were also reports of trees falling at five other sites including Geeta Colony, Vivek Vihar, and Kishangarh.

Eight water logging complaints were filed on July 5, three on July 4 and five on June 30.

Criticising the delay in achieving the desilting deadline, MCD Leader of Opposition Raja Iqbal Singh Thursday said: “All drains above 4 feet which come under the MCD’s jurisdiction should have been completely cleaned by June, but they are still full of silt.”

Hitting out at the AAP — which won the civic polls last December and ended the BJP’s 15-year rule — Singh said the party earlier used to say the MCD does not cooperate with them, due to which the drains were not cleaned on time. “After coming to power in the MCD, the AAP has made it completely inactive. Due to this, cleaning of drains could not be done on time.”

Last year, the MCD had achieved the target of 100 per cent drain desilting by June 25, added Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor.

According to Singh, apart from the complaints received by the MCD, waterlogging was also observed at Zakhira, Kirari, Rani Khera, Wazirpur, Bawana, Narela, Kishanganj underpass and other places, which affected movement of traffic and caused a lot of problems to citizens.

Responding to the claims, MCD Leader of the House, AAP’s Mukesh Goel, said: “90% of drains have been desilted… there are small portions which still remain but they will be desilted soon.”

Meanwhile, over 51 waterlogging complaints were received by the Public Works Department (PWD). Nehru Vihar in Timarpur, Kotla Road in Mayur Vihar, Kaushik Enclave in Burari, Sewadham Road, MB Road and Nangloi Rohtak road were recognised as the main waterlogging points. The PWD and MCD look after desilting drains in the national capital.