Waterlogging: Share disaster management plan, steps taken, HC tells Chandigarh admn

The details were sought in a suo motu plea initiated last week following heavy rain on November 30 that had led to waterlogging at the high court complex and surrounding areas, affecting judicial work

The Punjab and Haryana high court has sought details of the disaster management plan for Chandigarh and steps taken in pursuant to that.

Due to waterlogging on November 30, long traffic jams were witnessed and lawyers faced difficulties in reaching the high court complex. (HT File)

The details were sought in a suo motu plea initiated last week following heavy rain on November 30 that had led to waterlogging at the high court complex and surrounding areas, affecting judicial work.

Due to waterlogging, long traffic jams were witnessed and lawyers faced difficulties in reaching the court complex. So severe was the waterlogging that the Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Association had to write a letter to the high court acting chief justice, Ritu Bahri, stating that judges be requested not to pass adverse orders due to non-appearance of lawyers as they were stuck in traffic jams.

“Building premises of the Punjab and Haryana high court, being a heritage site, holds utmost relevance in the states of Punjab and Haryana, including Chandigarh, and such non-action on the part of the MC concerned in maintaining proper drainage system on the high court premises is raising serious question on their effective working,” the bench of justice Sureshwar Singh Thakur and justice Sudeepti Sharma had observed while taking the suo motu note.

Now, the UT administration has been asked to give details whether there is a disaster management plan in place for the city and whether adequate funds have been provided at its disposal to deal with exigencies.

Further, it has been asked to explain whether steps have been taken in line with the suggestions in the plan to deal with an emergency. It has also been asked to explain whether it failed to take notice of waterlogging on the high court premises, which ultimately resulted in lawyers not being able to appear before courts.

It has also been told to inform the court if the problem areas were in the knowledge of the administration and whether suitable action was taken to avoid re-occurrence of such an event. The administration has been told to respond by December 8.