HC panel inspects drain work

A Delhi high court appointed panel on Thursday visited the National Zoological Park for monitoring the ongoing drain work for free discharge of storm water from park area.

A Delhi high court appointed panel on Thursday visited the National Zoological Park for monitoring the ongoing drain work for free discharge of storm water from park area.

HT Image

Taking suo moto cognisance of a HT report of May 25, ‘MCD yet to lay drain in Delhi zoo’, a bench of chief justice Dipak Misra and justice Sanjiv Khanna had on May 27 sought an explanation from the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) for its failure to lay the storm water drain that had led to the death of more than two dozen black bucks in September last year.

The Delhi Jal Board (DJB) had completed its repair work for the faulty sewage system but the MCD started the work for the storm water drain only when environment minister Jairam Ramesh visited the site on May 30. The civic body had then promised to complete phase 1 of the work before June 30.

On Thursday, the HC panel, comprising advocate Raj Panjwani, held a meeting with the officials from MCD and DJB along with the zoo administration. The team also visited the Sundar Nagar side of the zoo as well as the site where pumping station is located. “We have started the work for the drain. It is going in full swing,” an MCD official told Panjwani.

The panel is supposed to submit a report to the HC before its next hearing in second week of July.