New Delhi: Amid allegations and counter-allegations over persistent waterlogging in Kirari, minister Parvesh Verma on Thursday accused the previous AAP govt of neglecting the constituency for over a decade and announced a time-bound plan to permanently resolve the problem.Verma said “misleading narratives” were being circulated on social media regarding the issue, though official records revealed a different story. “For the past one week, false claims are being pushed about Kirari. Today, I am placing facts on record,” he said at a press conference.According to the minister, official expenditure records show that only Rs 43 lakh was spent on sewage-related maintenance works in the northwest Delhi area over the past 11 years, despite it facing chronic waterlogging. He pointed out that Kirari’s colonies existed well before 2000, yet successive govts had failed to create a comprehensive sewer network. “Govts changed, but long-term planning was missing,” Verma said, adding that identical visuals of flooded streets had appeared in media reports year after year. AAP, however, alleged that the recent waterlogging in Kirari was not a natural occurrence but a result of deliberate negligence by BJP govt and agencies. Accusing govt agencies of blocking natural drainage channels by dumping garbage on vacant DDA land in the area, AAP Delhi convener Saurabh Bharadwaj said rainwater from Sharma Colony and surrounding localities earlier used to drain smoothly through this land. “This natural outlet has been blocked by dumping garbage, leading to severe waterlogging in Kirari,” he alleged, calling the situation “man-made flooding”.He also claimed that the party’s MLA from Kirari had written dozens of letters over the years warning that the drainage system required urgent repair, but “no corrective step was taken”.Verma also referred to the Kirari sewerage project, which was approved in Dec 2020 with a deadline of Dec 2024, but remained stalled. Attributing the delay to administrative failures and lack of coordination, he alleged, “The projects were sanctioned on paper, but execution was abandoned. Contractors stopped work due to non-payment.” Sharing the data on recent works, the minister said the sewer line coverage in Kirari had increased from 70% (286km) to 84% (340km). He claimed that notable progress was made in localities such as Pratap Vihar, Prem Nagar and Bhagya Vihar sewage pumping stations. The revised deadline for completing the Kirari project is June 2026.Citing audit observations that highlighted planning lapses, Verma said that while sewage generation in Kirari was about 36 million gallons per day, only a 15MGD sewage treatment plant is operational and a proposed 25MGD STP is still pending. An integrated approach, he said, is now being followed, with the irrigation and flood control department handling drain remodelling and Public Works Department executing related works. Key projects include a Rs 220-crore drain from Mundka halt to the supplementary drain, a Rs 250-crore Kirari-Rithala trunk drain, and remodelling of the KSN and Rohtak Road drains.
