MCDs, PWD lock horns over disposing off muck yet again

The Corporations have said that they will issue notices and challan to the PWD, which directly comes under the Delhi government, as the department has completely failed to remove/lift de-silted materials dumped on its roads.

 

The Corporations’ roads, where silt have been been dumped, have turned into mosquito breeding points and if delay is made in removing silt it will deepen the impending dengue crisis.

“The MCDs ensure proper de-silting of drains but inaction of PWD causes water-logging and its cascading effects. This time, even before the rains, several reports of waterlogging have come from South Delhi. To avoid such untoward situation this time, we have asked MCD officials to issue notices to Assistant/Executive Engineers of the PWD for not removing silt on time.

 The Corporations are even mulling to challan the department for not complying with the notices as MCD is authorised to do this,” said Shailendra Singh, Chairman Standing Committee, SDMC.

According the senior MCD officials, both civic agencies and PWD ensures de-silting of drains as per their jurisdiction. The agencies, for almost a couple of weeks, leave silt/debris/filth on their roads and then dump them in landfill sites. The authorities blame each other for poor execution of the de-silting work which turns into a loggerhead every year.

“The authorities engage in a blame-game while common people suffer from this. The civic bodies remove silt from their own drains and put it on their own roads before dumping at landfill sites. In case of PWD, though the department removes silt from its drains and stores the same on its roads but hardly mange to dump at landfill sites as civic bodies deny permission to do so.

 The department, in that case, removes silt in a slow speed resulting in a mess. With the menace, city witnesses water logging and mosquito breeding as a common phenomena,” said the official.

Leader of Opposition in the SDMC Farhad Suri, however, said that the civic bodies skip from their responsibilities by passing the buck on the other agency. “If de-siltting target have been achieved then there should be no waterlogging at all. Instead of blaming PWD, the SDMC should clean its own drain properly,” Suri said.