“People Are Bearing the Brunt of Past Mistakes”: Delhi CM Rekha Gupta on Barapullah Drain Desilting Drive

Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Tuesday outlined the government’s ongoing efforts to tackle chronic waterlogging in the capital, pointing to large-scale desilting work at the Barapullah drain as a key step toward long-term flood prevention. She said the project addresses structural flaws dating back more than a decade and reflects the new administration’s focus on fixing long-ignored infrastructure problems.

Speaking during an inspection, the Chief Minister said the Barapullah drain has been a major cause of flooding in nearby residential colonies during heavy rainfall. Soon after the formation of the government, officials began repeated site visits and inspections to understand the root causes of the problem. According to her, multiple agencies examined the drain before corrective action was taken.

Rekha Gupta highlighted serious design failures in the drain, which was constructed around 2010. She noted that despite its large size, the drain lacked basic features required for maintenance, including proper access points, outlets, slabs and an effective cleaning mechanism. She also pointed out that the slope of the drain was never properly assessed during construction, severely affecting water flow.

The Chief Minister said that nearly 14,000 metric tonnes of accumulated silt have already been removed, and the target is to clear more than 50,000 metric tonnes in total. To ensure efficiency, the task was handed over to the Delhi Metro, which deployed specialised machines capable of removing deep-set silt from the drain.

Calling the situation a result of years of poor planning, Gupta said residents are still suffering due to mistakes made by previous governments. She added that issues like waterlogging and pollution are not new but have been allowed to worsen over time. The current government, she said, is committed to resolving these problems systematically.