Noida: According to the Meteorological Department, there may be the first rains in NCR on June 29. Despite this, serious work has not yet been started in Noida to deal with waterlogging. Tenders have not yet been finalised for cleaning the drains, which is the main cause. This means that before the first monsoon rains, the authority will have only nine days to clean the drains. Will the authority be able to get the 263-kilometre-long drains cleaned in nine days?
Due to the non-cleanliness of the longest irrigation drain passing through the heart of the city, there is a problem with water logging in most of the sectors. Apart from this, due to the non-cleaning of drains coming out of Sector-19 and Sector-27, water enters houses during rains in many sectors. On the other hand, the water department of the authority has not yet started seriously preparing to deal with waterlogging. There are about two dozen water-logged spots identified in the city where water gets filled with little rain.
The city has two divisions of the Public Health Department, with 119 big drains in both divisions. One has a maximum number of 64 drains, which range in length from 700 metres to 8 kilometres. The longest drain starts near Chijarsi Baratghar and joins the irrigation drain near Sector-34. The length of all 64 drains is 143 km (300 m). There are 55 drains in the second division. The length of these drains is 119 km (600 m). The biggest drain in this goes from Sector 51, NSEZ, to Sector 142. It is about a 10-kilometre-long drain. In this way, the authority will have to clean 263 kilometres of drains in the city in just nine days.