The Hindu   08.08.2012

New water-logging helpline

The Delhi Government has set up a centralised control room to deal with reports of water-logging in the Capital under which complaints about it on telephone number 011-23490323 will be addressed with 30 minutes of receiving them.

The Government revealed this information in an affidavit which it is likely to file in the Delhi High Court on Wednesday.

It has made this submission in response to a public interest litigation by non-government organisation Antarrashtriya Manav Adhikar Nigrani Parishad seeking directions to the agencies concerned to deal with water-logging in the Capital.

The affidavit further said that it had received from the Delhi Traffic Police a list of vulnerable points which were considered prone to water-logging for de-silting and cleaning of drains and making available water pumps.

Meanwhile, in a related matter, a Division Bench of the Court directed the Capital’s municipal bodies to file status reports within a week about the steps taken by them to de-silt drains to prevent water-logging during the monsoon.

A Division Bench of the Court comprising Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Vipin Sanghi passed the direction on a petition by a non-government organisation seeking contempt of court proceedings against officers of the civic bodies for their alleged violation of the July 11 order of the Court asking them to file status reports about the steps they had taken for de-silting drains to prevent water-logging.

The petitioner Nyaya Bhoomi submitted that the civic bodies had taken no steps to de-silt drains and neither had they filed status reports as directed by the Court.