Delhi extends desilting deadline

New Delhi, June 10: With the monsoon around the corner, the Public Works Department (PWD) of the Delhi government has extended the deadline for desilting of the city drains to June 30. The department had earlier set the target by June 15. In a written reply to a question asked by Leader of Opposition Vijender Gupta in the Assembly, PWD Minister Satyendar Jain on Friday informed the House that the other preparations done by the department to handle waterlogging in the city were the deployment of temporary and permanent pumps, maintenance vans along with cleaning of the bell mouth openings. As of June 1, the department has not even completed 25 per cent desilting in 70 per cent of the sites. Of the 1,036 roads under the PWD, on 726 roads the work done is only up to 25 per cent. Only 87 sites have been completely cleared, according to a PWD report. “In all the drains, 20 to 50 per cent desilting is done, and the work is in progress in all the areas,” Jain informed the house. (IANS)