UP to conduct drone survey of drains in urban areas

LUCKNOW: To avoid waterlogging on streets during the monsoon season, a statewide campaign will be undertaken by the Department of Urban Development, Government of Uttar Pradesh. The Department is set to use drones to carry out extensive surveys of drains and nalas across the state. This will help them identify stretches and sites which require maintenance and cleanliness works.

Amrit Abhijat, Principal Secretary, Urban Development Department, Government of Uttar Pradesh, has issued directives to the municipal corporations of Agra, Aligarh, Ghaziabad, Kanpur, Lucknow, Meerut, Prayagraj, and Varanasi to ensure cleaning of all major, medium and small drains and utilise drone cameras to monitor condition. Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath had recently directed officials of the state to ensure that the roads and streets in the region should not get submerged during this monsoon.

The civic bodies that are responsible for doling out urban services in vulnerable cities have also been asked to create a database of drains, channels, canals and nalas where heap, debris or garbage is found where there is an urgent need of desilting.

Photographs of the surveyed stretches under the campaign are to be then presented in a prescribed format to the directorate of the urban local bodies in Lucknow. The local civic bodies have to provide photos of before and after desilting work at such sites.