Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Wednesday said that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government is working on a "war footing" to clean the Najafgarh drain.
The 27 km road will be linked to the inner Ring road at Basaidarapur, the outer Ring road at Keshavpur, Pankha Road at Vikaspuri, Najafgarh Road at Kakrola, Dwarka Expressway and many important roads leading to the airport, said Sisodia.
Sisodia said the proposed project will benefit lakhs of people residing in colonies that include Punjabi Bagh, Paschim Vihar, Nilothi, Baprola, Kakrola, Najafgarh, Dwarka, Vikaspuri, Chhawla.
According to the minister, the Delhi government is constructing sewage treatment plants and laying sewer networks in unauthorised colonies to ensure complete treatment of sewage flowing in the drain.
During the meeting, officials informed that 36% of the total pollution in the Najafgarh drain is contributed by three other drains coming from Haryana. Also, 32 drains in Delhi contribute 44% of the pollution in the drain.
The Delhi Jal Board will completely treat the water of these drains by upgrading its various sewage treatment plants.
As per the Delhi government's plan, around 10 lakh cubic metres of silt will be removed from the Najafgarh drain in the first phase. The AAP government has sanctioned ₹55 crore for the phase-I completion of the project.
Two silt humps that have developed at two places in the Najafgarh drain will be cleaned to improve the flow of water as well as provide relief from vector-borne diseases. "The accumulation of silt in the Najafgarh drain is due to untreated sewage, contaminated water from industries, animal dung from dairy colonies, and solid waste," an official from the department of irrigation and flood control said.
The Najafgarh drain is actually a river named Sahibi, a Delhi government official said.
