32 untreated drains flowing into Najafgarh drain to be completely tapped

In major breakthrough to the rejuvenation of Najafgarh drain that joins the Yamuna, total 32 untreated drains flowing into it would be completely intercepted for diverting their sewage ridden flow to nearby STPs for treatment by January 15 next year, an official said on Monday.

The treated water will be used foer horticultural purposes.

These 32 feeder drains that belong to different agencies like DJB, MCD, PWD, DDA and DMRC flow into the Najafgarh drain between the 7.5 km stretch from Timarpur to Bharat Nagar, which is a part of the 12 km stretch from Timarpur to Basai Darapur slated to be developed as a waterway for operation of passenger and goods boats/crafts in the coming months under the personal supervision of Lieutenant Governor (LG) V.K. Saxena, the official said further.

Of these 32 drains, five drains belonging to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) have already been trapped and the sewage ridden discharge from the remaining drains would be stopped by January 15, 2023. The interception of these 32 drains would prevent nearly 25 per cent of the total sewage discharge into the Najafgarh drain.

The rejuvenation of Najafgarh drain has been a focus area of the LG who 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 desilting operations and overall cleaning of the drain, the official added.

According to the official, the 2 km stretch of the Najafgarh drain from Timarpur to Mall Road Bridge has been completely cleaned and the works upstream of the drain are fast progressing. Cleaning of another 5.5 km of stretch from Mall Road Bridge to Bharat Nagar will be completed by January 15 and thereafter, trials will begin for operation of passenger and goods crafts.

Upon completion of the interception of 32 drains, work will begin for trapping another 18 drains discharging sewage into the Najafgarh drain from Bharat Nagar up to Basai Darapur, taking the total number of trapped drains to 50 in near future, he added.

--IANS

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