Delhi govt seeks status report on drain cleaning from all depts on Aug 1

The Petitions Committee of the Delhi government has asked all the departments to submit the status report on the cleaning of drains to it on August 1, the official statement said on Thursday.

The Committee on Petitions called upon the Chief Secretary of the GNCTD to discuss the action taken on the Petitions Committee Report adopted by the house on June 30, 2017.

The Committee was pained to see the media reports of water logging in the city caused by a lack of cooperation between relevant departments to deal with the issues of water logging.

In 2017, a report of the Petitions Committee pointed out that the departments claimed 95 per cent of the desilting had been completed but the claims were found to be false in the inspection of the Petitions Committee, the statement said.

It was then recommended that an investigation is needed to fix the accountability of erring officials because crores of rupees of taxpayers' money were being spent on tenders for desilting while the on-ground work was dismal, it said.

It is a parliamentary practice that the government submits action-taken reports on the Assembly Committee reports adopted by the house.

The Committee had summoned the Chief Secretary to submit the action taken report of the government on the recommendations of the Petitions Committee in 2017

The Committee was shocked to hear media enquiries that Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar will not appear before the committee citing the lack of jurisdiction of the Committees to enquire into such matters.

The Petitions Committee wrote back to Naresh Kumar citing the numerous newspaper reports of water logging across the city.

It was mentioned in the response to Kumar that the committee expected the top and worthy officer of GNCTD would be more than forthcoming to assist the committee in this emergency situation.'

"The committee also asked him to put forth his concerns before the members of the committee so that the committee can consider the same," the release read.

Kumar did appear before the committee along with Commissioner (MCD), Chairman (NDMC), and Principal Secretary (PWD).

It was discussed and agreed before the committee that all the executive engineers of various departments will submit a signed report on the status of the desilting of drains in their respective jurisdictions.

As per the statement, the report will be consolidated by the HODs and will be submitted before the committee on August 1, 2022.

It was also agreed that the department will create and publish a duty roster whereby senior officials will physically verify the desilting status of various drains in their jurisdictions.

The Chief Secretary agreed that physical verification by senior officers can make a difference in the services provided by the departments and brings much-needed accountability and transparency.

The committee also decided that from the 2 of August, its members along with senior-most officers will randomly visit sites to verify the desilting claims of the departments.