Delhi G20 Summit: Dewatering Trucks To Be Used To Prevent Any Waterlogging

New Delhi:

To avert any waterlogging or flooding situation during the G20 Summit, the Delhi Fire Service (DFS) will deploy four heavy-duty Mobile Dewatering Trucks, Raj Niwas officials said on Monday.

The equipment, specially borrowed from Ahmedabad, have been deployed at ITPO and Raj Ghat to avert any waterlogging or flooding-related eventuality if it rains in the national capital during the G20 Summit, they said.

The G20 Leaders' Summit is scheduled to be held from September 9-10 at a newly built international convention and exhibition centre -- Bharat Mandapam -- at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi.

Vehicles equipped with high-capacity suction pumps have been brought in by DFS to deal with any contingency like the one recently, where the area in and around the Raj Ghat and ITPO were submerged after heavy rains, the officials said.

Delhi Lt Governor V K Saxena, during his review meetings in the run-up to the summit, had repeatedly stressed putting in place a comprehensive and foolproof contingency plan in and around the G20 venues to deal with waterlogging or flooding situations in the city, in case it rains heavily during the event.

On Sunday, the LG accompanied the Principal Secretary to the PM P K Mishra and inspected these vehicles stationed at ITPO.

Two such vehicles each have been deployed at Raj Ghat and ITPO and can be moved anywhere as per the requirement, the officials said.

Each of these vehicles is capable of high-speed water suction at the rate of 10,000 litres per minute from a radius of 15 metres, they said, adding that once completely loaded with fuel, these vehicles can operate for 24 hours continuously.

These diesel-run vehicles are equipped with BS-VI engines of 60 BHP capacity at 1500 RPM and are minimally polluting, both in terms of emission and noise pollution and being run at a noise level of 85 dBA at 7m, they added.

Eventually, DFS will be procuring such vehicles on a permanent basis.

In an interview with PTI on Saturday, Mr Saxena said a multi-agency contingency plan will be activated if there is a heavy downpour during the summit.

Sixty heavy-duty mobile pumping sets will be deployed around the Pragati Maidan, the venue for the event, he said.

Areas prone to waterlogging have been taken care of with the construction of drains and underground storage tanks, he said.

"All arrangements are in place and we are prepared to handle any situation," he said.

"Agencies like the NDRF (National Disaster Response Force), PWD (Public Works Department) and Flood and Irrigation Department have been put on alert to handle any situation. Every detail has been minutely planned and arrangements made," Mr Saxena said.

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