Union Minister Khattar to unveil Delhi's new drainage master plan on Friday

New Delhi, Sep 18 (PTI) The Delhi government's much-awaited drainage master plan suited to address capital’s challenges and demands in face of rapid urbanisation will be unveiled by Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Manohar Lal Khattar on Friday, officials said.

Designed to meet the city's drainage requirements over the next 30 years, the plan aims to address both present challenges and future demands in the face of rapid urban growth and recurring waterlogging problems.

The master plan will be unveiled as part of the government's initiatives under the Sewa Pakhwada.

According to officials, the drainage master plan was prepared in 1976, when the city’s population was just 60 lakh, but since then there has been rapid urbanisation, the built-up area has been increased, due to which the runoff coefficient contributes to the discharge in drains, which causes the overflow in the existing drainage system.

"The national capital has approximately a total of 3740.31 kilometres of drainage network under the jurisdiction of eight different civic agencies and departments. To implement the drainage master plan for the entire city, the government also plans to formulate an interdepartmental committee having officers from all the concerned departments," officials added.

Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and Irrigation and Flood control department minister Parvesh Verma will also be present at the event.

The PWD has divided the city into three basins -- Najafgarh Basin, Barapullah Basin, and Trans-Yamuna Basin -- and hired consultants to redesign the drainage network.

"The current drainage system can handle rainfall up to 50 mm of rainwater in a day, now we plan to double this capacity," officials added.

The drainage master plan project report has been prepared by the consultants using advanced state-of-the-art tools. The plan is to integrate all existing drains, water bodies, wetlands and green parks to utilise the existing infrastructure and improve livelihood, he added. PTI SSM NB