SHAHDARA DRAIN: Joint panel to look into feasibility; officials say demand ‘unreasonable’, difficult to implement The Uttar Pradesh government has told Delhi that it does not want its Shahdara drain to flow into Noida. A delegation of senior officials from the UP government, including the chief executive officer (CEO) of Noida, was in the Capital last week to hold a meeting with Delhi government officials to push for diverting the drain. The official reason cited by the officials was that they “do not want Delhi’s pollution to enter UP”. “We had a meeting with the CEO and senior officials from the UP Irrigation and Flood Control. They have demanded that the Shahdara drain should not flow through Noida and instead be diverted along the Hindon directly into the Yamuna. Delhi and UP have now set up a joint committee to look into the feasibility of the proposal. The committee is also to consult the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, for technical feasibility of implementing the proposal,” said Delhi Chief Secretary Rakesh Mehta. The committee comprises the deputy CEO of Noida Authority, Delhi Jal Board Chief Engineer V S Thind, officials from both the UP and the Delhi irrigation and flood control departments and senior officials from the Noida Authority. Officials in the Delhi government said the demand made by the Uttar Pradesh government might not be technically feasible. “The flow of the drain and the topography of the area are such that it may not be possible to divert the drain. In any case, this will be an extremely expensive proposition. The diversion cost aside, once the drain is diverted, there is likely to be a water accumulation of two metres or higher on the Delhi side, which will need to be pumped out at a very high cost. But UP is so keen to have the drain diverted that they have offered to bear this cost,” said a senior official.