Haryana agrees in-principle to hand over ITO barrage to Delhi govt

New Delhi, Sep 15 (PTI) The Haryana government has given in-principle approval for the Delhi government to take over the ITO barrage, officials said on Monday.

In July, as part of efforts to bolster its flood management strategy, the Delhi government had formally requested the Haryana government to hand over control of the ITO barrage on the Yamuna River.

"While the gates at the barrage have been repaired to prevent any flood-like situation like in 2023, and we are monitoring it, we had requested Haryana to hand over the control, and they have agreed to it," a government official told PTI.

In 2023, flooding in areas near ITO was partly attributed to several dysfunctional gates at the barrage.

Officials said the Delhi government had in the past also written to the neighbouring state, seeking control of the critical structure.

The ITO barrage is the closest to all the flood-prone areas in Delhi. Malfunctioning of five of its gates due to heavy silting was cited as one of the major contributing factors during previous flood incidents, they said.

There are a total of 32 gates at the ITO barrage.

Of the three major barrages on the Yamuna in Delhi, the Delhi government currently controls only the Wazirabad barrage. The Okhla barrage is under the control of the Uttar Pradesh government, while the ITO barrage has so far been managed by Haryana. PTI SSM HIG HIG