Kejriwal Government working on a war-footing to clean Najafgarh Drain
Dy CM Manish Sisodia holds a review meeting with the senior officials of the committee for cleaning of Najafgarh drain; reviews every project in detail
Desilting work of the Najafgarh Drain is going on at a fast pace, in the first phase 10 lakh cubic metres of silt will be removed from the Najafgarh drain before the monsoon of 2023- Dy CM Manish Sisodia
*Advanced technology machines will be used for desilting, the government has approved funds of Rs 68 crores for the procurement of machines
*Delhi Government will construct a 59 km two-lane road between Chhawla and Basaidarapur on both sides of Najafgarh drain at a cost of Rs 616 crore- Dy CM Manish Sisodia
*The proposed road of 59 km will be linked to the Inner-Ring Road in Basaidarapur, Outer Ring Road in Keshavpur, Pankha Road in Vikaspuri, Najafgarh Road in Kakrola and several important roads leading to Dwarka Expressway and Airport
*Delhi government will build a magnificent sports complex in an area of 10 acres in Kakrola - Dy CM Manish Sisodia
*To make Yamuna pollution free, it is very important to treat Najafgarh drain completely before it gets disposed of in the Yamuna - Dy CM Manish Sisodia
*CM Arvind Kejriwal has said that Yamuna will definitely be cleaned before the 2025 elections, various departments of the government are working round the clock to ensure this - Dy CM Manish Sisodia
NEW DELHI :27.01.23-Chief Minister Shri Arvind Kejriwal led Delhi Government is working on a war footing to clean the Yamuna before 2025. To ensure this, the cleaning of the Najafgarh drain is the priority of the government. On Friday, Deputy Chief Minister Shri Manish Sisodia held a review meeting with the committee of senior officials constituted for cleaning the Najafgarh drain and thoroughly reviewed each project chalked out to eliminate the pollution of the Najafgarh drain. While reviewing the projects, Deputy Chief Minister Shri Manish Sisodia said, “Making Yamuna pollution free is the priority of the Delhi Government. Chief Minister Shri Arvind Kejriwal has said that the Yamuna will be cleaned before the 2025 elections. Various departments of the government are working on a war footing to ensure this."
During the meeting, the Deputy Chief Minister reviewed the progress of the desilting works of the Najafgarh drain in the first phase. Officials said that at present about 8 million cubic metres of silt has accumulated in the Najafgarh drain. In the first phase, the work of removing 10 lakh cubic metres of silt from the drain is going on a war footing and this work will be completed before the monsoon. After desilting, the flow of the drain will be better and the vector-borne diseases will decrease. In the meeting, the project of constructing a 59 km road between Chhawla to Basaidarapur on both sides of the Najafgarh drain was also reviewed. This project has been approved in the discussion phase. This project worth Rs 616 crore will benefit lakhs of people living in hundreds of colonies including Punjabi Bagh, Paschim Vihar, Nilothi, Baprola, Kakrola, Najafgarh, Dwarka, Vikaspuri, Uttam Nagar, Janakpuri, Chhawla. They will get major relief from the traffic congestion.
*In the first phase of desilting, 10 lakh cubic metres of silt will be extracted from the Najafgarh drain before the monsoon in 2023*
During the review meeting, the officials told the Deputy Chief Minister that mixed untreated and contaminated sewer water from industries, animal dung and solid waste are the reasons for the accumulation of silt in the Najafgarh drain. At present, about 8 million cubic metres of silt is accumulated in the Najafgarh drain. Officials said that in the first phase, the project to remove 10 lakh cubic metres of silt from the drain has been approved and work is going on a war footing for the same. The first phase of desilting will be completed before the monsoon of 2023.
Presently, desilting work is going on 5 stretches of the Najafgarh drain. Of which, 1.5 lakh cubic metres of silt between the Outer Ring Road to Khayala Bridge stretch before monsoon, 1 lakh cubic metre of silt between the Basaidarapur Bridge to Timarpur Bridge, 3.5 lakh cubic metres of silt from Jhatikara stretch, 3 lakh cubic metre of silt from Khyala to Basaidarapur and Ronhola stretch will be removed before the monsoon.
Under this project, 2 humps at two places in the Najafgarh drain will be cleaned. This will improve the flow of water in the Najafgarh drain as well as reduce the menace of mosquitoes. The public will get relief from vector-borne diseases. After the removal of the humps, the discharge of water will reach Yamuna more quickly than before and a smooth flow of water will be ensured and the public will also get relief from the problem of backflow of water.
*Advanced technology machines will be used in the work of desilting, the government released Rs 68 crore*
At present, the Flood and Irrigation Control Department is using its existing machines for desilting. To expedite the work of desilting, the government has released Rs 68 crores. Under this, 10 state-of-the-art machines will be bought and used by the department for desilting. These machines include Amphibious Excavator, Multipurpose Dredger, and Weed Harvester.
*Delhi government will construct a 59 km road between Chhawla to Basaidarapur on both sides of the Najafgarh drain*
During the meeting, the project for the construction of a 59 km road of two lanes between Chhawla and Basaidarapur on both sides of the Najafgarh drain was also reviewed. This project has been approved in the discussion phase and the work on this will start soon. Lakhs of people living in hundreds of colonies including Punjabi Bagh, Paschim Vihar, Nilothi, Baprola, Kakrola, Najafgarh, Dwarka, Vikaspuri, Uttam Nagar, Janakpuri, Chhawla will be benefited upon completion of this project costing about Rs 616 crore. This road will bring a major relief from traffic for the people living in the aforementioned colonies.
This proposed road of 59 km will be linked to the Inner-Ring Road at Basaidarapur, Outer Ring Road at Keshavpur, Pankha Road at Vikaspuri, Najafgarh Road at Kakrola and several important roads leading to Dwarka Expressway and Airport. This will benefit lakhs of people in Delhi and NCR.
*Delhi Jal Board is treating the water of dozens of drains that releases waste water into the Najafgarh drain through its various STPs and DSTPs*
During the meeting, officials said that 32 drains release their wastewater in the Najafgarh drain, which is 44% share of total pollution. Delhi Jal Board is treating them through its various STPs before their disposal in the Najafgarh drain. For this, the Delhi Jal Board is working to upgrade its STPs and increase their capacity. Within 1 to 1.5 years the upgradation work of all these STPs will be completed.
Along with this, there are 52 small drains that release their water in the Najafgarh drain, which contributes to 20% of the total pollution. Delhi Jal Board is getting a large number of decentralised STPs constructed for this, through which the water of these drains can be completely treated before they get disposed of in the Najafgarh drain.
These drains basically carry with them the waste of various unauthorised colonies. To stop this, the Delhi government is working to install sewer lines in unauthorised colonies across Delhi and is improving the sewer network across Delhi. For this, a target has been set to lay sewer lines in all unauthorised colonies by the end of next year.
PWD is also getting the desilting of its drains done so that the silt of these supplementary drains does not go into the Najafgarh drain. Along with this, PWD is also working to repair various culverts built on the Najafgarh drain.
The Forest Department of the Delhi Government is also building Haritma Complex Nature Interpretation Centre to attract tourists, along with this the redevelopment work of Vipin Garden and Kakrola Bio-Diversity Park will also be done. The tourism department of the government is also developing means of water transport in the Najafgarh drain. The government also has plans to develop a boating facility here.
It is to be noted that on this 27 km road, a wonderful pedestrian track and cycle track will also be constructed. Different types of trees and plants will be planted to ensure greenery in the surroundings.
*Delhi Government will build a magnificent sports complex in Kakrola*
Delhi Government will also construct a sports complex on 10 acres of land in Kakrola at a cost of Rs 43 crores. Deputy Chief Minister Shri Manish Sisodia also reviewed this project today. Football and cricket grounds, badminton court, basketball court, swimming pool and jogging track will be the special features of this sports complex. Through this outdoor sports complex, the youth of the surrounding area will get a chance to train using the world-class facilities here.
It is to be noted that the Najafgarh drain is actually the Sahibi river. During the last few decades in the capital, the Sahibi river has been identified as the Najafgarh drain. Sahibi river starts from Rajasthan and goes directly to Yamuna via Najafgarh. Now the Kejriwal government has started efforts to get this drain back as the Sahibi river. The Najafgarh drain entering the Yamuna from Dhansa is about 57 km long. It has a rural stretch of 18 km from Dhansa to Chhawla, after which it reaches the urban area. Out of the total of 126 drains flowing in Delhi, 3 drains meet in Najafgarh drain and it accounts for 36% of the total pollution of Najafgarh drain.