Delhi L-G inspects construction of Airport drain, 5 water bodies in Dwarka

New Delhi [India], December 18 : Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena on Sunday inspected the construction of the Airport drain and five water bodies in Dwarka.
Travellers bound to the IGI Airport and the residents of the Dwarka Sub-city in the national Capital are set for a big relief from flooding and waterlogging during the monsoons, starting next year. A major drainage project to channelise the rain and stormwater discharge from the IGI Airport to Najafgarh Drain, being executed by Delhi Development Authority (DDA) under the guidance of Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena, is fast progressing and will be completed by May 2023.
DDA, at the same time, is also creating five water bodies in the Dwarka region that will be used for storing the overflowing rainwater during the monsoons. Once completed these water bodies will have a total storage capacity of 1.22 lakh CuM of water that will prevent the rainwater from flooding onto the streets.
This major project was stuck for the last two years due to pending permissions for tree cutting/translocation from the Delhi Government. It was only after the L-G's intervention that permission for tree translocation was given and the work on the airport drain commenced on November 20.
The L-G, who has already undertaken three visits to the Airport Drain in the last one month, inspected the construction site at Dwarka Sector - 8 on Sunday and directed the officials to enhance the manpower and other resources to complete the drainage work at the earliest. Saxena also inspected the sites for these water bodies and asked the officials to complete the digging and dredging work by next month.
The 2.5-km-long airport drain will require 72,000 CuM of earth removal out of which 8200 CuM of earth has been removed so far. The lining work has also begun simultaneously so as to maintain the pace of the work and cause minimum disruption of traffic. The L-G has issued strict instructions to finish the construction work by May 20 next year and warned against any laxity on part of the officials.
It is pertinent to mention that the existing two drains at the IGI Airport have proven insufficient for discharging the huge amount of rainwater from the airport which has often resulted in severe waterlogging in and around the IGI Airport during heavy rains and thus causing disruption and cancellation of flights for several days major inconvenience to the passengers. Heavy waterlogging even forced closure of the IGI Airport on several occasions. This also caused flooding in the adjoining Dwarka Sector 8, which houses several prominent Government organizations. During the LG's visits to Dwarka, the residents had also complained of crippling waterlogging in several areas.
Saxena said construction of the airport drain along with the creation of water bodies will be a big relief for the air travellers and the local residents of Dwarka. He said during the monsoon, the overflowing water from the airport as well as from the streets of Dwarka could be channelized to these water bodies. This project will also ensure hassle-free movement of delegates and dignitaries visiting the national Capital during the monsoon months for the G-20 Summit next year.
The airport drain will be capable of discharging 70 CuM of water per second during the peak rains. The drain would start from inside the IGI Airport premises, pass beneath the Railway tracks adjoining the airport boundary in Dwarka Sector-8 and would connect to DDA's Trunk Drain - 2 (TD-2) that would further channelize the rainwater to Najafgarh Drain. While the construction of drain within the airport premises will be done by the airport operator DIAL; the Northern Railway is constructing a culvert over the railway land and the remaining construction work will be carried out by DDA. The airport drain will be 20 meter wide and will have a depth of 2 meter.
Officials said out of the 05 proposed water bodies, 03 will be created in Dwarka sector 8 while the 02 others will come up at Dwarka Sector 20 and Dwarka Sector 23 respectively. An existing water body at a DDA land in Sector 8 will be enhanced to the capacity of 13,700 CuM while 02 new water bodies, with the combined water holding capacity of 25,700 CuM, will be created in another DDA land in Sector 8. The proposed water body at Dwarka Sector 20 will have the storage capacity of 20,250 CuM while the one at Dwarka Sector 23 will be the largest of all water bodies with a water-holding capacity of 62,800 CuM.
Notably, Dwarka is one of Asia's largest sub-cities and owing to its proximity with IGI Airport and the neighbouring city of Gurugram, it has emerged as the fastest-growing residential sector in the national capital with a population of over 30 lakh. Dwarka, which houses a number of government organizations, has also been a hub of development activities in the form of the Diplomatic Enclave, an International Exhibition cum Convention Centre and Dwarka Expressway among many others in recent years.