All drains in city to be de-silted before monsoon: Officials

New Delhi: With over a month left for the beginning of the monsoon season in the Capital, the Public Works Department (PWD) claimed to have de-silted around 40 per cent of the drains, while the civic bodies said over 35 per cent work has been completed.

According to officials, the PWD intends to wrap up the process by June 1, while the three civic bodies north, east and south aim to complete de-silting the drains by the end of next month.

The three civic bodies collectively manage over 600 km small and medium drains along its roads and in colonies, while major drains are mostly managed by the PWD.

The process of de-silting of drains is going on in full swing. We have completed nearly 40 per cent of de-silting work. Remaining work will be completed latest by June 1, a senior PWD official said on Tuesday.

According to government data, there are about 2,846 drains in Delhi, measuring about 3,692 km. The PWD manages around 1,100 drains along 2,050 km length and 1,260 km of roads across 17 divisions in the city.

In March, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had directed the PWD officials to complete the de-silting and also install pumps at vulnerable points by May 31 to avoid waterlogging during the monsoon.

The official said the de-silting work was started in early April and it normally takes around two-and-a-half months to clean big drains and all those along the city roads.

Generally, the national Capital starts receiving rain by

the last week of June, the official said.

The South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) said it is on course to meet the target.

The SDMC manages nearly 275 small and medium drains. Nearly 37 per cent de-silting work has been completed. Till April 22, we have removed 12,852 metric ton silt from our drains, an SDMC official said.

Shyam Sundar Agarwal, mayor, East Delhi Municipal Corporation said there are nearly 218 drains spread across 121 km under its jurisdiction.

Over 35 per cent de-silting work has been completed. Our drive to clean the drains is being carried out in full swing and we will complete it by June end, he said.

Similarly, the North civic body manages nearly 195 drains measuring about 200 km in its jurisdiction.

We have removed 2,179 metric ton silt so far. Our priority is to clean drains before the arrival of the monsoon, a senior official of the North Corporation said on the condition of anonymity.

In the last two years, de-silting of drains had been delayed by nearly two months due to COVID-19 and subsequent lockdowns, officials said.