HC unhappy with work on zoo drain

Unhappy with the way the work on the storm water drain at the Delhi zoological park has progressed, the Delhi High Court on Wednesday has now summoned the MCD commissioner.

Unhappy with the way the work on the storm water drain at the Delhi zoological park has progressed, the Delhi High Court on Wednesday has now summoned the MCD commissioner.

HT Image

This came after a court-appointed committee headed by lawyer Raj Panjwani expressed dissatisfaction with the work.

He said sewage continued to flow through the storm water drain. Moreover, the contractor has been going ahead with the work without even a proper construction plan.

Acting on a Hindustan Times report, the Delhi High Court had, on May 27, sought an explanation from the MCD on its failure to lay proper storm water drains in the zoo and on not cleaning the existing one.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Sanjiv Khanna said that the construction of the drain in
the zoo was the responsibility of four government agencies — MCD, Delhi government, DJB and the zoo authority — but there was no coordination between them.

Back flowing rain water during heavy rains had contaminated with sewage water and was responsible for the deaths of over two dozen black bucks last year at the Delhi zoo. The court has repeatedly decreed that such tragedies should not recur.

The storm water drain of the zoological park is to connect the outlets at the eastern edge of the zoo to the existing drain running under a railway line and emptying into the Yamuna.