HC issues contempt notice to two Delhi government officials
NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Friday said drains cannot be allowed to remain clogged as the city should not suffer with another flooding in the next monsoon and issued a notice for contempt to two senior officers of the Delhi government for “ignoring” judicial orders.
A bench of Justices Prathiba M Singh and Manmeet PS Arora said the cost of drains being clogged in the city and waterlogging was to be borne by the city residents and couldn’t be allowed to continue.
The bench took a strong exception to non-compliance of the court’s previous order directing the Delhi government to ensure that portions of the Taimoor Nagar drain in southeast Delhi was cleaned to enable an unhindered water flow from the drain towards River Yamuna.
The court was informed by counsel for one of the parties that no cleaning work had happened in the Taimoor Nagar drain which continued to be clogged.
The bench noted the Delhi chief secretary was directed to call a meeting of all the civic authorities concerned responsible for the drain in order to create a special task force to ensure the unclogging of this drain. “It was the duty of the chief secretary to ensure unclogging of the drain. We will issue a notice of contempt to the chief secretary,” the bench orally remarked.
However, the bench at the request of the Delhi government’s counsel did not issue notice of contempt to the chief secretary for now.
The court said even a direction, issued to K S Jayachandran, the special secretary of integrated drains management cell (Delhi) to ensure all obstructions and garbage were removed for a free flow of water into the river, was not complied with. The court criticised officials for ignoring its orders regarding clogged drains, causing waterlogging in Delhi.
It issued a contempt notice to the special secretary, IDMC, and the administrative head of the Irrigation and Flood Control Department, demanding an affidavit within three days.
The court also addressed flooding due to uncleaned drains and the eviction of Madrasi Camp residents for a new flyover. It emphasised the importance of de-clogging drains to prevent future flooding, dismissing concerns about eviction timelines.
