Chirag Dilli: Chirag Dilli overflow: Burst pipe wastes water, damages two stretches | Delhi News

New Delhi: In a stark example of bourgeois apathya water pipe belonging to the Delhi Jal Board spewed water out in several places Chirag Dilli without the water company taking any action to stop the leaks. For several days, not only was water wasted, but two roads were also damaged.
On the Ring Road near Chirag Dilli traffic junction, water has accumulated on the left side in front of Chirag Dilli metro station. It is not rainwater that has accumulated there. Every rain only worsens the situation and leaves the stretch completely inundated. Local residents have been complaining for the past month that water is constantly gushing out from the underground pipeline behind the public toilet on the station complex.
“For at least four hours, water shoots out from here and floods the street. The problem is further down the line, but we are feeling the effects here,” said one of the toilet attendants.
On Friday afternoon, TOI found water accumulated on the roadside. However, the origin of the problem, as mentioned earlier, lies further down Lal Bahadur Shastri Marg. Between two footbridges, the road – the site of the pilot road-laying project – is in a vulnerable state as the underground pipeline running alongside it is leaking at two places.
“This road has been flooded for the past month. I use this stretch and the footbridge almost every day to reach the Chirag-Dilli side,” said Kamal, a senior citizen. “I don’t know what the reason is, but there is always water here.” Near the Chirag-Dilli footbridge, the tiles on the pavement were broken and were lying in a puddle of water. The water was spilling onto the main road, causing inconvenience to the public.
A kilometer-long stretch of it was rehabilitated by the Public Works Department as part of a road construction project that promised city roads of “European standard” and was inaugurated by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in 2021. This model road served as an inspiration for further road rehabilitation and beautification work in the capital.
A spot in the green area next to a white marble peacock statue, installed as part of the road beautification exercise, has turned into a pond due to a continuous flow of water. A hole has been drilled in the wall behind it to drain the accumulated water away from the road into open areas. According to security personnel working there, this measure has been taken to prevent water from flowing onto the main road.
The problem now seems to have escalated as neither DJB nor PWD has taken any remedial action. PWD spends around Rs 800,000 annually on cleaning and maintaining this stretch of road. “We will look into the matter and see what the problem is,” was the routine reply of a PWD official to a query on the matter. DJB did not respond to TOI’s questions.