The department has also issued a circular to the chief engineers of different divisions for immediate compliance with the directions.

The circular issued by the PWD said Deputy CM and PWD minister has directed officials to take necessary actions and be prepared for the monsoon so that no waterlogging occurs on PWD roads.

“All the tenders of cleaning of drains, installation of pumps, maintenance vans deployment etc must be called at the earliest. Works to cleaning and desilting of all drains must be completed by May 31, 2022. Critical locations and hotspots should be given special care,” the PWD circular said.

It also stated, “Concerned chief engineers should personally monitor these actions taken by divisions and take immediately necessary action for any slackness in this regard.”

According to the government data, there are about 2,846 drains in Delhi and their length is about 3,692 km. The PWD manages 2050 km length of drains along 1,260 km of road across 17 divisions in the city.

The three civic bodies collectively manage over 400 km of small and medium drains along its roads and in colonies.

These drains are cleaned by the civic bodies while the PWD manages the major drains, including conducting their desilting. Normally it takes around two-and-a-half months to clean big nullahs and all drains along city roads, PWD officials said.

“Generally, the monsoon arrives in the national capital by the last week of June. Hence the desilting work has to be completed by May 31 or latest by June 15 so that there is no waterlogging during monsoon.

“To finish on time, the process for allotment of tenders should begin in March only,” a PWD official told PTI.

He added that the tenders for desilting of drains will be invited soon. In last two years, the desilting of drains had been delayed by nearly two months due to the Covid pandemic and subsequent lockdowns, officials said.

Choked drains and delay in desilting had led to extensive waterlogging in many parts of the city during the monsoon season in 2020 and 2021 as well. In July 2020, a 56-year-old man had allegedly died of drowning when his mini-truck was submerged in water under the Minto Bridge in central Delhi.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in August last year had said that changes would be made to Delhi’s drainage system based on suggestions received from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi to resolve the issue of waterlogging in the city.

Last year, Kejriwal had convened a few meetings to review the capital’s drainage master plan and had said a “world-class drainage system” would be developed across the city to ensure that city streets are not inundated during monsoons.