Overflowing sewage raises a stink in GK-I

Residents say they have been forced to pump out sewage onto the street. Photo: Special Arrangement

You wouldn’t think that living in one of South Delhi’s most posh localities could have any downside. But for residents of Greater Kailash-I, their neighbourhood stinks – literally.

Sewage has been overflowing onto the streets of GK-I for months now. Residents say complaints to everyone, from the Prime Minister to the local Delhi Jal Board engineer have not yielded any results.  

Blocked drains have forced residents to pump out the sewage onto the street outside their houses, leaving a noxious stench in the air. In June last year, the local residents’ association wrote to the area executive engineer of the DJB, asking for a new sewer line.

Sujat Vora, the secretary of the C-Block Welfare Society, said though the problem has persisted for years, it became worse in June 2014. “The sewage was not flowing and rain made it worse. The basements of many houses were flooded with the dirty water. Greater Kailash has become ‘Gutter Kailash’,” said Mr. Vora.

The society then wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 6, 2014, hoping that the recently launched Swachh Bharat campaign may inspire some action. The PMO did forward the complaint to the Delhi Chief Secretary, but that was on December 4, 2014.

Greater Kailash MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj was forced to acknowledge the problem when a resident tweeted at him on Monday.

In reply to a resident’s tweet, Mr. Bhardwaj said: “It’s a massive problem where 30 ft deep sewer line has sinked causing blockage. taken up with Highest Authorities.” (sic)

Delhi Jal Board vice-chairperson Kapil Mishra told  The Hindu  that he had visited the area and was working on a solution.

“It’s not the sewer that is blocked, but it’s the South Delhi Municipal Corporation’s stormwater drains that are emptying into the sewer and the drains of the PWD are not clean,” said Mr. Mishra. He added that residents of the nearby Zamrudpur village had taken illegal sewer connections and the DJB’s sewer proved inadequate to deal with it.

He said he had met DJB officials from the area on Monday and would call a joint meeting with the SDMC and PWD next week so a plan could be chalked out.