Delhi, chew this! Gutka, pan masala packets are clogging drains in capital, says report

In Delhi, around one-fifth of the garbage that causes blockage in the drain accounts for pan masala and gutka packets.

According to a study by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Kharagpur, around 22% of the gutka and pan masala packets were found in Delhi's drains that lead to waterlogging during the monsoon season, a Hindustan Times report said.

“Most drains in Delhi look like mini gutkha factories. These wrappers are more harmful than regular plastic bags because they’re thicker. During rain, packs that are thrown on roadsides get carried to the mouths of the drains and block the passage of water,” TS Ramachandran, IIT-Kharagpur's professor in urban design and road management was quoted as saying by HT.

The study by IIT's urban planners also found that the silt in Delhi's drains also consist of 27% plastic film and plastic bags, around 39% paper and other soluble waste and 12% from leaves, twigs and dust.

Delhiites have to face the problem of waterlogging every monsoon. There are around 165 major drains in the city. 

Earlier this month, Kejriwal said that his government will sanction funds for construction of roads and drains in all unauthorised colonies of the city within 15 days.

He made this announcement while inspecting civic facilities in north west Delhi's Kirari. During his visit to unauthorised colonies, Kejriwal interacted with locals and after listening to their grievances, warned officers that they would be suspended for "shoddy" work. 

"People live in hellish conditions in unauthorised colonies. To give them dignity n better life, funds will be sanctioned for roads n drains in next 15 days for ALL unauthorised colonies in Delhi. Work will start on war footing and daily progress will be monitored (sic)," he tweeted.

Last year, the desilting of drains had caused tussle between the government and bureaucracy, with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal seeking action against the then PWD Secretary Ashwani Kumar for not obeying his order over desilting of drains.

The Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal had also formed a high-level committee to look after desilting of drains and open manholes in the national capital. The committee then said it would coordinate with various agencies for the desilting work so that they did not end up passing the buck among each other.