NEW DELHI: In a bid to fix the problems of waterlogging across the city, the Delhi Government has asked the Public Works Department (PWD) to coordinate and work as a team with other agencies — three Muncipal Corporation of Delhi (MCDs), New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), Delhi Jal Board (DJB), Irrigation and Flood Control Department (I&FC), Delhi Development Authority (DDA), Railway etc at local level to address the waterlogging problems across the city.
Delhi Chief Secretary Vijay Kumar Dev, in a meeting held with the PWD, had asked the officials to take necessary steps for immediate removal of stagnant water due to the incessant rain in the city, and added that action will be taken against the erring officials who fail to coordinate and work as a team.
According to a government official, the concerned Executive Engineers (EE) Civil as well as EE (Electrical) will coordinate with other civic agencies.
“Non-performance of works contract related with removing the waterlogging problem will also attract fixing of responsibility on concerned engineers (being a public servant), apart from action for contractual liabilities,” said an official.
The government is monitoring control room at the office of Engineer-in-Chief (PWD) round the clock to achieve the effectiveness in the field, said the official. Meanwhile, mayors of the three municipal corporations of Delhi sought to blame the AAP government for waterlogging in parts of the city, even as they demanded that the funds “due” to the civic bodies be released soon.
North Delhi Mayor Jai Prakash, South Delhi Mayor Anamika and East Delhi Mayor Nirmal Jain also alleged that Kejriwal government was “not cooperating” with the corporations in fighting COVID-19 or civic issues.
“Delhi suffering from Covid and the city government woke up only after the Union Home Minister swung into action, and now people are facing waterlogging issues. We are saying, let’s work together but the AAP government doesn’t wish to,” Prakash said.