New Delhi: An intensive operation to clean the Yamuna floodplains, involving territorial army personnel, will be launched by Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena on Thursday, the Raj Niwas said in a statement.
Saxena has directed the agencies concerned with the cleaning to ensure “drastic change” in the quality of river water within the next six months, it said.
A 94-member company of the territorial army will be drafted to ensure ground level enforcement and monitoring of all untrapped drains and sub-drains that pollute the river, it said.
The Lt Governor heads a high-level committee constituted by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in January to oversee implementation of its orders with regard to cleaning of the Yamuna.
The cleaning and rejuvenation work in the Yamuna and its floodplains has picked up within last one month, said the statement.
In a meeting of the committee on Tuesday, the LG was informed by officials that 13 sub-drains of Najafgarh Drain were fully trapped and 3.03 km of trunk/peripheral sewer lines were completely desilted since January 20 when the panel met for the first time.
In an inspection of 88 industrial units during the period, water and power connection of 12 polluting units were cut and a penalty of Rs 53 lakh was imposed.
The officials informed the LG that so far, a 17-km stretch of Najafgarh Drain has been cleaned. Trapping of three untrapped major drains – Barapullah Drain, Maharani Bagh Drain, Mori Gate Drain – will be completed by September 2023. This will check the flow of 48.14 MGD of sewage into the Yamuna, officials informed.
Under the Interceptor Sewer Projects (ISP), 76 untrapped sub-drains — 44 sub-drains of Najafgarh Drain, two falling into Shahdara Drain and 30 sub-drains of Supplementary Drains — will be completely trapped by September 2023, the officials assured the LG.
Of the 76 sub-drains, 52 will be completely trapped by June 2023, they claimed further.
Also, the faecal sludge (septage) management committee impounded 46 vehicles for unauthorised discharge of septage into the drains. A fine of Rs 12.77 lakh has been imposed, they said.
The officials informed the LG that laying of sewer lines in 573 colonies is underway out of which, work in 264 colonies will be completed by June 2023 and in another 70 colonies by September 2023.
Similarly, connection of drains in 639 JJ colonies with the sewer system is underway out of which 558 JJ colonies have been connected with the sewer system. Work in the remaining clusters will be completed by June 2023.
During the meeting, the LG asked drain owning agencies – the PWD, the MCD, the DDA, the DJB, the DSIIDC – to physically inspect and submit within 15 days a report on all illegal sub-drains that are not in the official records of the agencies but are falling into the main drains, added the statement.
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