Delhi Allocates Rs 150 Cr for Drain Remodelling

New Delhi, Mar 25 (PTI) Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Tuesday announced an allocation of Rs 150 crore for remodelling of drains in the national capital, even as she rued how waterlogging has become the city's identity.

Gupta, who also holds the finance portfolio, said waterlogging and poor drainage system has been a serious problem here, which leads to flood-like situation every year.

"Waterlogging on roads, flood-like conditions, headlights of vehicles submerged in stagnant water and pictures of sinking roads, this has become the identity of our capital," she said.

She announced a total budget of Rs 603 crore for the Irrigation and Flood Control Department, of which Rs 315 crore has been allocated for various schemes.

She also proposed a scheme of "Remodeling of Drains for Flood Control", for which a budget of Rs 150 crore has been allocated.

The main objective of this project is to increase the water carrying capacity of the drains, so that the problem of waterlogging during the rainy season can be prevented, she said.

The government is also planning to clean and de-silting open water bodies for flood control.

"Apart from this, modern machinery will also be procured, so that waterlogging can be controlled and flood control can be made more effective," she said.

She also blamed the previous governments' poor administration for the waterlogging issue in the national capital.

"People had started saying that - the rainy season in Delhi is worst. But in reality, the rain was not bad, but the administration of the previous governments of Delhi was bad. They never tried to eliminate the root of this problem, due to which waterlogging on the roads of Delhi was very common.

"But our government is fully committed to eradicating this problem from its root," she stressed.

This Budget is the first presented by a BJP-led government in Delhi in over 26 years, following the party's victory over the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in last month's assembly elections.

Gupta on Tuesday presented a Rs 1 lakh crore FY26 Budget with ten focus areas, including Yamuna cleaning, economic empowerment of women, infrastructure, water, and connectivity, asserting that it is a roadmap for making the national capital self-reliant.