As per the status report released by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, 77.5% of drains have been desilted across the city as the monsoon approaches the capital. A total of 2,29,018 metric tons of silt has been removed from drains under the civic body’s jurisdiction in 12 zones till June 23, according to the report which was issued by the civic body after questions were raised on monsoon preparedness at the first meeting of the Standing Committee on June 27.

The report highlights that Karol Bagh was at the bottom of the list of 12 zones that have achieved total desilting targets. While in some areas like Central Zone and Keshav Puram, the total silt removed exceeded the estimated tonnes of silt. In Najafgarh, which has the longest running drain in Delhi, 110% of desilting targets were achieved, and only 67% of the drains of height or width of 4 feet and above have been desilted in the area.

Desilting Big Drains Difficult

The entire report has been segregated into two parts, the first having drains with a depth or width of less than 4 feet and the other for more than 4 feet. The civic body has desilted small drains in large numbers, but the deeper and larger drains still remain beyond reach to a substantial extent.

For North Shahdara Zone, the MCD has cleared 100% silt from small drains, but only 60% of the targeted silt from bigger drains. Similarly, for the South Zone, only 63% of the silt from the 45 km stretch of deep drains has been removed. For the West Zone, 86% of the small drains are cleared, but only 67% of the targeted silt from deeper drains has been cleared, as per the report.

The report also mentioned that the silt removed from the drains will be disposed of at sanitary landfill (SLF) sites in Ghazipur, Bhalswa, and Okhla.