Najafgarh Drain requires immediate attention

Clean India Journal Editor 5 January 2023 2 min read

National Green Tribunal Chairman asserts the urgency in the drain’s cleaning and restoration

According to an official release from the Raj Niwas, NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel and Lt Governor of Delhi VK Saxena jointly inspected the Najafgarh drain, which is undergoing cleaning and rejuvenation.

Taking stock of the cleaning operations, Justice Goel and L-G Saxena, accompanied by the Chief Secretary and other senior officials of the various stakeholder departments, took a boat ride from Bharat Nagar (Ashok Vihar) to Timarpur.

In light of the fact that persistent court monitoring and orders in the past had not led to much progress in cleaning the Najafgarh Drain, the Chairperson of the National Green Tribunal asked the local government to ensure that the efforts undertaken so far are carried out in a time-bound manner, according to an official release released by Raj Niwas.

As part of the first phase of the work on the stretch between Timarpur and Bharat Nagar, the NGT Chairperson informed us that the 57-km drain will be cleaned and rejuvenated using a highly cost-effective partial gravitational desilting technology, and 32 feeder drains bringing in unfettered sewage and silt will be trapped. In addition to the de-silting and restoration of embankments from Wazirabad to Timarpur completed in November, the 7.5 km stretch between Mall Road Bridge and Bharat Nagar has also been cleaned.

An official release states that the drain has become almost stagnant with over 80 lakh tonnes of solidified garbage and sludge, severely impairing its flow and capacity.

A total of 50,000 tons of silt have been removed during the past couple of months and efforts are on to completely de-silt the water body within a short period of time. Furthermore, 27,000 tonnes of surface trash and silt have been removed and deposited on the banks of the drain, the ANI reports.