Delhi high court appoints committee to look into drainage problems

New Delhi: The Delhi high court on Monday said “emergency efforts” were required to ensure drains in the city are free of obstructions to stop rain water and sewage from stagnating on roads.

A two-judge bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C. Hari Shankar said that sewage and storm water have to be dealt with and directed the authorities concerned to draw up an action plan for drainage soon.

The court appointed a committee, which is headed by the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) chief executive officer (CEO), to look into difficulties in drainage of storm water and sewage in the national capital.

The bench set up the panel after taking note of news reports that claimed the drainage system in the city was archaic and needed to be upgraded.

The court said that given the multiplicity of authorities and their “inability to undertake the task” of ensuring proper drainage, it was “essential” to monitor the same so that woes of the people are addressed.

The bench on July 26 had asked the municipal and other civic bodies, which manage the storm water drains, to map all such drains indicating the geographical areas they service.

The court was hearing a PIL initiated by it after taking note of the news reports about roads being waterlogged and traffic disrupted, after heavy rainfall between July 10-13 in Delhi.

Taking suo motu cognisance of the news reports, the bench had asked the AAP government and the civic agencies why waterlogging was a problem every time it rained, and sought to know the steps taken to prevent it.

It said the fallout of waterlogging was not only loss of man-hours with people unable to reach their destinations in time, including hospitals, but the idling engines of vehicles would add to air pollution in the city.