Monsoon deluge on NDMC councillors’ minds
17 May 2012 11:39 AM GMT
The fear of deluge in the city in the upcoming monsoon season due to pending de-silting work dominated the House of New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) on Wednesday. Councillors cutting across the party lines demanded quick action and assurance for cleaning of drains on time.
The issue is likely to feature in the meeting of Municipal Corporations as well. The de-silting work has been pending in the areas falling under all the three corporations.
In the House, the matter was raised by Leader of House, Mahendra Nagpal, for half-an-hour discussion. Leader of Opposition Mukesh Goel also raised the issue during discussion.
The members held the government responsible for the menace. The Congress members, on the other hand, blamed it on lack of will in BJP leadership. Councillors demanded more manpower and infrastructure.
The commissioner, in his reply, blamed it on delay in distribution of resources, machines and so on.
Goel gave a list of 48 vulnerable places for water logging and seven stretches in the NDMC area, having a record of heavy traffic jam. He blamed the problem on BJP's head and termed it a result of apathy and lack of will in the ruling party leadership. It's not only the NDMC that is concerned about the desilting. Other corporations are also having a tough time cleaning their drains in time.
'We are doing our work but there's not enough manpower. The drains that come under Delhi Development authority and Public Works Department are in worse condition. In East, PWD has still not floated tenders for cleaning work,' said a senior East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) officer.
The South Delhi Municpal Corporation has also said that de-silting work in its area is well behind schedule as the corporation hasn't got the super-sucker machine. 'We don't have super sucker machine. We'll be hiring other machines on rent from private contractors to complete the cleaning work,' said an SDMC councillor.
According to official figures, it took the unified Municipal Corporation of Delhi eight months to de-silt 60 per cent of the drains and now, with less than two months left for monsoon, the three new corporations are staring at the impossible task of de-silting another 40 per cent. The task involves de-silting 3,287 four-feet-deep drains along a total of 1,505 km.
The issue is likely to feature in the meeting of Municipal Corporations as well. The de-silting work has been pending in the areas falling under all the three corporations.
In the House, the matter was raised by Leader of House, Mahendra Nagpal, for half-an-hour discussion. Leader of Opposition Mukesh Goel also raised the issue during discussion.
The members held the government responsible for the menace. The Congress members, on the other hand, blamed it on lack of will in BJP leadership. Councillors demanded more manpower and infrastructure.
The commissioner, in his reply, blamed it on delay in distribution of resources, machines and so on.
Goel gave a list of 48 vulnerable places for water logging and seven stretches in the NDMC area, having a record of heavy traffic jam. He blamed the problem on BJP's head and termed it a result of apathy and lack of will in the ruling party leadership. It's not only the NDMC that is concerned about the desilting. Other corporations are also having a tough time cleaning their drains in time.
'We are doing our work but there's not enough manpower. The drains that come under Delhi Development authority and Public Works Department are in worse condition. In East, PWD has still not floated tenders for cleaning work,' said a senior East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) officer.
The South Delhi Municpal Corporation has also said that de-silting work in its area is well behind schedule as the corporation hasn't got the super-sucker machine. 'We don't have super sucker machine. We'll be hiring other machines on rent from private contractors to complete the cleaning work,' said an SDMC councillor.
According to official figures, it took the unified Municipal Corporation of Delhi eight months to de-silt 60 per cent of the drains and now, with less than two months left for monsoon, the three new corporations are staring at the impossible task of de-silting another 40 per cent. The task involves de-silting 3,287 four-feet-deep drains along a total of 1,505 km.
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