‘Finish de-silting before monsoon peaks’

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday directed the three civic corporations and the Delhi government to ensure that all drains in the Capital are de-silted before the rainy season reaches its peak.

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday directed the three civic corporations and the Delhi government to ensure that all drains in the Capital are de-silted before the rainy season reaches its peak.

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The court was hearing a PIL filed by lawyer Gaurav Bansal, seeking immediate efforts to end the menace of waterlogging during monsoon.

A bench of justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and justice Vipin Sanghi also asked the civic bodies to ensure that the silt extracted was taken away immediately and not left in a heap beside the drains.

Directing immediate compliance of the order, the court has sought a status report in this regard within 15 days.

On July 5, another bench, which had dealt with the petition, had slammed the corporations for not living up to its claims of speedy progress in de-silting drains.

The high court, in clear terms, had told the three civic bodies that their work should not be confined to false claims on paper, but should be felt by the public in the form of roads free of waterlogging, which causes havoc every year.

"What status report? We know what happens every year during monsoon," the bench had told the agencies' counsel.