In a bid to tackle city’s waterlogging woes, the AAP-led Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) on Thursday announced a major overhaul of the city’s decades-old drainage system.

MCD Mayor Dr Shelly Oberoi emphasized that the aging infrastructure, some of which are 20-30 years old and severely deteriorated, will be replaced.

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MCD officers have been tasked with listing the damaged drainage systems and estimating the costs for immediate repairs, funded by the Mayor’s discretionary fund.

The civic body’s teams will work around the clock until the monsoon to clear encroachments from footpaths and blocked drains, ensuring incidents like the recent one in Old Rajinder Nagar are not repeated.

Oberoi, addressing a press conference at Civic Center on Thursday, said recently three children lost their lives due to waterlogging in the basement of a coaching center in Rajinder Nagar, and Monsoon is still going on in Delhi and there is a problem of waterlogging at many places.

Given this, some important instructions have been given to the officials, she added.

She added that, “A campaign will be launched to remove encroachment from footpaths and drains across Delhi, and also, all the drains that are blocked due to encroachment will be opened so that water can drain out.

She also said that portable pumps will be installed at all such points where there is a greater problem of waterlogging.

The Mayor added that she has given clear instructions to the MCD commissioner that all the officers and staff of the civic agency will work roud the clock till the monsoon, and they will be put on duty in different shifts so that an incident like Old Rajinder Nagar does not happen again anywhere in the city.

She also added that apart from this, wherever there are open wires and cables in the whole of Delhi, they will be surveyed and immediate action will be taken on them in collaboration with NDPS and BSES, which comes in wake of the death of another UPSC aspirant in Patel Nagar area due to electrocution.

“Strict action will be taken against those who are doing commercial activities in basements in these areas by going against the rules. Clear instructions have been given to prepare a list of all the bad and old drainage systems of Delhi by holding a meeting with the officials. Officials have been asked to present the data on the expenditure on each drain. These will be repaired as soon as possible so that waterlogging or other problems do not arise. For this, if there is a need to give money from the Mayor’s fund, then it will be given,” Mukesh Goyal, leader of the house in MCD said.