Agencies not doing work, passing the buck: HC on waterlogging

New Delhi, Sep 1 (PTI) Lambasting the local bodies fornot doing their work and passing the buck on each other, theDelhi High Court today said the severe waterlogging on theroads in the national capital was due to clogging of drains byplastics and other non-biodegradable materials. "Each of the agency in the capital of Delhi do not dotheir work and, because of the multiplicity of the agencies,they pass the buck on each other," a bench of justices B DAhmed and Ashutosh Kumar said. Their strident reaction came a day after another highcourt bench said "we cannot tolerate this year after year",while commenting on the water-logging on major roads andcrippling of traffic movement in large parts of Delhi. The bench made the remarks today after it was told by thecounsel for Public Works Department (PWD) that they were onlyresponsible for 1226 kms of roads in the city, while threeMCDs said they should not be blamed for the overflowing drainsduring rains, as it was the PWD’s responsibility also. The court was hearing a PIL by Col (Rtd) B B Sharan whohas sought direction for maintaining cleanliness in Delhi. "The local bodies, including the Municipal Corporationsof Delhi, New Delhi Municipal Council and Delhi CantonmentBoard were asked to frame bye-laws incorporating theprovisions of Plastic Waste Management Rules in exercise ofpowers conferred under the Environment (Protection) Act… "In absence of setting up of the infrastructure forsegregation, collection, storage, transportation, processingand disposal of plastic waste in Delhi, it would be difficultto stop clogging of drains. The non-biodegradable materials isthe main reason for clogging of drains, which we can see fromthe recent waterlogging in Delhi," the court said. "It appears that the local bodies of Delhi are notserious. Therefore, we direct them to frame bye-laws andimplement them as soon as possible," it said. (More) PTI PPSABA HMPARC