Delhi High Court raps PWD, civic bodies over waterlogging

New Delhi: Delhi High Court on Wednesday pulled up the Public Works Department (PWD) and civic agencies on the water-logging situation in the national capital, saying "we cannot tolerate this year after year".

Hearing the matter relating to water-logging in South Extension area of south Delhi, the bench said there is "no justification for clogged drains".

It also observed that pools of water collected on roads after the rain due to poor drainage were leading to the spread of diseases like dengue and Chikungunya.

On Wednesday, the national capital came to a standstill due to water-logging after three hours of heavy rain.

The PWD falls under the Delhi Government and civic bodies, including three Municipal Corporations of Delhi (MCDs), are BJP-ruled. PWD Minister Satyendar Jain had earlier criticised MCDs for not functioning properly.

The PWD later held the silt flowing from MCD drains to PWD drains as one of the major causes of water-logging. 

PWD said they had received 230 complaints and the issues were resolved within 30-40 minutes. 

"It was again observed that problem of water-logging at many locations occurred again due to flow of silt and sludge from MCD drains upstream of PWD drains which is contrary to the claims made by all the three municipal corporations about desilting of their drains," PWD said in a statement, adding that it deployed a total of 825 pumps and 1,078 workmen to deal with water-logging problems.