PWD officials directed to visit sites during rains to check waterlogging

The public works department of the Delhi government has directed its senior officials to visit their respective areas during rains to check waterlogging.

The directives were issued at a recent meeting, chaired by Engineer-in-Chief (E-in-C) Rakesh Kumar Agrawal, on various issues.

According to the minutes of meeting, the field units of the department were also directed to intimate about waterlogging at any location to the centralised control room irrespective of the jurisdiction.

During the monsoon season, Delhi witnesses waterlogging on roads, and agencies blame each other for not taking concrete steps to prevent the situation.

"It was directed that in addition to subordinate field staff, superintendent engineers should also visit their respective sites during rains and take stock of the position themselves and mobilise teams for dealing with waterlogging problems.

 

"The respective MCDs should also be kept in loop while dealing with waterlogging problems," the minutes of meeting stated.

Some officials pointed out that due to non-cleaning of smaller drains under the jurisdiction of municipal corporations, the silt from these drains reaches the already cleaned PWD drains due to which the department is forced to undertake desilting repeatedly

"The E-in-C directed that in cases where the work is held up due to issues of other civic agencies, the matter should be taken up with them in writing with proper details including photographs," according to the minutes of the meeting.

Last month, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had called for setting up a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to clean the city's drains and prevent waterlogging on roads.

Sisodia had said the process of cleaning the drains being used by the PWD and the MCDs in most of the cases is very "primitive".

He had also said that garbage and muck from drains are kept on roadside and then taken away when they dry up, adding that in the process a part of the waste goes back into the drain.