Jal Board's fancy plan decried

By Lalit K. Jha

NEW DELHI, APRIL 18.

At a time when the Delhi Jal Board is in the red, it has gone ahead and given the green signal for laying an underground sewer line through the much expensive trenchless technology in the Najafgarh area of Outer Delhi.

A decision to this effect was taken by the DJB at its board meeting, chaired by the Chief Minister, Ms. Sheila Dikshit, here on Tuesday, despite opposition from BJP members who argued that a cash-strapped DJB cannot afford to lose Rs. 55,000 per metre of digging.

As per this decision, about 750 metres of the main Najafgarh sewer 8.5 metres below the surface and passing across the main Najafgarh Road in South West Delhi would be laid by the National Building Construction Company (NBCC) in association with the American multinational Sherrington at an estimated cost of Rs. 4 crores.

This even as it is being argued that through the traditional open excavation method, it could have been done about ten times less the cost of this expensive trenchless technology. The BJP members are learnt to have brought to the notice of the Board that another contractor had offered to complete the job through the same technology at a lower cost of Rs. 2.5 crores.

As for DJB officials, they defended the decision to go in for the trenchless technology at this particular point. Laying of the huge sewer pipelines, ranging between 900 mm to 1,200 mm diameter at such a deep level through the open excavation method, had been tried earlier but this could not succeed as underground cable lines and water supply lines were cut leading to a major disruption. Besides, it also led to the uprooting of a number of trees.

``Due to this, the work had been abandoned for the past three years now. We have no other choice left but to go for this new technology,'' said the DJB (Member) Drainage, Mr. S. K. Agrawal.

With this trenchless technology, pipelines would be laid by the highly advanced boring machine and none of these services would be disturbed, Mr. Agrawal said. Whereas the open excavation would have taken at least a few years to be completed, the entire work is expected to be over in about four months.

Conceding that this technology was expensive compared to open excavation, Mr. Agrawal said the benefit of completing the job in a short time without major disruption of services more than makes up for its cost.

During the DJB Board meeting, BJP members are reported to have questioned the utility of using such a costly technology. ``What can cost us merely between Rs. 7,000 and Rs. 8,000 is now being done at Rs. 55,000. Whatever the benefits of technology, we cannot allow this in a poor country like India,'' one of them said.

Earlier, the Delhi Development Authority had introduced this costly technology in East Delhi, though on a limited scale. Less than 80 metres of sewer line in the Mansarovar Park area of Trans-Yamuna was laid through this technology. The work executed by Sherrington company, was completed recently.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Other States
Previous : AIIMS faculty angry over irregularities
Next     : Janshakti wants CM dismissed