By IANS,
New Delhi : The Delhi High Court Wednesday directed the city government and the civic agencies to file the action taken report on steps taken by them to prevent water-logging in different places of the national capital during this monsoon season.
A division bench of Acting Chief Justice A.K. Sikri and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw directed the Delhi government, three municipal corporations, New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), Delhi Jal Board (DJB) and Public Works Department (PWD) to file reports on steps taken by them by next week.
The bench said: “No response has been filed by the respondents despite its order in May. The public authorities have adopted dilly dallying attitude and given no importance to the issue when the monsoon is its peak.”
The court also asked the civic bodies to explain the steps taken by them after the court had issued notices to them in May. It further asked them to also respond to the suggestions given by the petitioner to improve the situation.
The court’s direction came while hearing a PIL filed by an NGO Antar-rashtriya Manav Nigrani Parishad for seeking directions to the authorities to take immediate and effective measures for long-term redressal of the problem of water-logging in different places in the city.
The petition also sought from the court appointment of a committee of experts to find the causes and also solutions to the problem of water-logging.
The NGO filing the PIL also offered suggestions to the authorities for redressal of the problems. It suggested: “All storm water drains, every half a kilometre or so, underground rainwater harvesting traps should be built and the storm water drains should be connected to these.”
it suggested ensuring that “no sewage water is allowed to flow into these storm water drains, adequate sewage connections (are provided) and regularly discharge or pump out their sewage through the storm water drains”.
It also suggested that “a small water treatment plant should be installed at the origin of each nallah and all the water flowing in the channel at this point should be pumped into the water treatment plant, treated and only then allowed to flow in the channel”.
“The systematic treatment of water flowing through the channel and the sewage or untreated domestic waste all along the course of all the nallahs will ensure that by the time sewage water reaches river Yamuna, it will be clean and huge amount of money will not be required to spend to treat the sewage,” the suggestion made by the NGO said.