Meeting of Apex Committee to review flood control measures held at Secretariat

• Meeting of Apex Committee to review flood control measures held at Secretariat

• Flood Control Order 2017 released by the Chief Minister

• Looking at multiplicity of agencies, CM proposes SPV for cleaning of Drainage

New Delhi: 27/06/2017

A meeting of the Apex Committee was held at the Delhi Secretariat on Tuesday (27.06.2017) to review flood control measures and release the Flood Control Order 2017.

The meeting was chaired by the Chief Minister of Delhi, Mr. Arvind Kejriwal. The meeting was attended by Ministers Mr. Satyendar Jain, Mr. Kailash Gahlot, Mr. Rajender Pal Gautam and Chief Secretary of Delhi Dr. M. M. Kutty.

The meeting was also attended by the Divisional Commissioner-cum-Secretary Revenue, HODs of various Departments/Senior officers like Commissioners of MCDs/NDMC, CEO DUSIB, Secretary I&FC, Principal Secretary UD, senior police & army officials, District Magistrates of all the Districts of Delhi, officers of Delhi Jal Board, PWD, and DDA.

All the stake holder agencies presented the measures taken by them to overcome problems of water-logging & flooding and preparedness to deal with any eventuality during the current flood season.

All these departments intimated the area of their jurisdiction length of Drains, Roads and Sewage lines, Machineries available with them, vulnerable points from the flood point of views, additional man powers, setting up of Control Room/24 X 7 (1077/22015234) Helpline and challenges/strategies to cope with the water logging and flood condition during the ensuing monsoon season.

A Central Flood control room has been established under the control of District Magistrate East in his office which will operate round the clock till 15th Oct, 2017. The representative of all the departments and civic agency i.e. I&FC, DDA, PWD, NDMC, EDMC, SDMC, NDMC, DTC, DJB, BSES, MTNL, Delhi Police and DDMA will remain present in the control room to mitigate any problem related to their respective department during monsoon season.

A manual containing important information called Flood Control Order 2017 was unveiled by the Chief Minister. The booklet contains telephone numbers of the control rooms, details of flood control machinery, scheme of operation like danger level & flashing of warnings, list of vulnerable points, duties of various departments and other agencies along with important information about river embankments, operation of regulators etc.

The Chief Minister stressed at the need for coordinated efforts among various agencies to prevent water logging and other such problems during the monsoon season.

Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said, “The process of cleaning the drains being used by the PWD and the MCDs in most of the cases is very primitive. Garbage from the drains are kept on the side of the road to dry up and are then taken away when they dry up. In the process a part of the garbage again goes back in the drain. It is done nowhere in the world. We must move to modern technology. One of the solutions is the use of super suckers and we must prepare estimates for cleaning all the drains with super suckers from next year.”

“There is multiplicity of agencies in Delhi as far as cleaning of drains is concerned. We must try for a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for better coordination and cleaning. Such an integrated body will help in the long term,” the CM added.

He also asked the officials, “Whether there was something to know in advance the chances of floods after looking at the prediction of monsoon?”

The Divisional Commissioner, while commenting upon the presentation made, highlighted the main features and importance of the said manual. The Divisional Commissioner directed that commissioners of MCDs should allow disposal of silt, removed from drains by various departments at the sites to ensure that the silt does not flow back into the drains during rains.

A Central Flood Control Room has been established to assist the Apex Committee functioning round the clock at L.M.Bund, Shashtri Nagar, Delhi. This control room is functioning since June 15 and will continue to function till October 15 or till monsoon withdraws, whichever is later. The SDM Preet Vihar will be the Officer-in-charge of the Central Flood Control Room. The contact number of this control room is 22051234 (Disaster Management Cell), 22428773 and 22428774.

All the 11 districts of Delhi have one sector committee each, which has become operational from June 15, under the supervision of a Sector Officer of DM rank. The work of all there sectors will be overseen by one of the cabinet ministers of Delhi Government. The sector officer will work as a link between the respective departments.

The Deputy CM will oversee the work of South District, South East District, South West District and Central District. Mr. Gopal Rai will look after East District, North East District and Shahdara District; while Mr. Satyendar Jain will be overseeing West District, New Delhi District, North District and North West District.

Key Points:

• All District Magistrates/SDMs concerned to be vigilant and responsive in the unlikely event of flood if river Yamuna crosses danger mark or in the event of evacuation

• PWD and irrigation & Flood Control Department to work in coordination specially to deal with floor mitigation measures at certain locations which have been identified as critical/vulnerable point during flood of higher magnitude or during heavy rainfall

• Divisional Commissioner assisted by DM (East), who is Nodal Officer for Central Flood Control Room, will interact with civil as well as Army officers from time to time to take stock of the situation.

• Due attention, response and cooperation by Delhi Police, Transport Department, Health Department and Education Department in the unlikely event of flood or heavy rainfall.

At the end of the meeting, DM East Mr. Kulanand Joshi presented a vote of thanks.