Condition of drains is result of years of neglect: LG

New Delhi: Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena on Friday said the condition of drains in the national capital is the result of “years of neglect”.

On August 4, Saxena inspected three arterial drains -- Barapulla, Kushak, and Sunehri -- and flagged their state as “appalling” and noted that they were filled with silt and debris. In a post on X, Saxena said, “The city’s major drains, clogged with silt and garbage, are mainly responsible for the waterlogging and the resulting hellish conditions in Delhi every year. This condition of Delhi’s drains is, clearly, the result of years of neglect and negligence”.

Saxena noted that the Barapulla, Kushak, and Sunehri drains alone are responsible for draining the water from 24 per cent of the entire Delhi area, “but these drains are not able to work even at 10 per cent of their capacity”.

“The reason is clear. The cleaning work started after my visit on August 4 and in the last 10 days more than 1200 MT of silt has been removed from these drains,” he said.

“Despite the combined efforts of all the concerned agencies, a lot of work still remains to be done in cleaning these three major drains. I assure the people of Delhi that this work will be completed very soon and long-term measures will be taken to provide relief from waterlogging,” Saxena said the post. Saxena also attached some pictures with his posts on X and said photographs show the current condition of these drains.