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Delhi LG VK Saxena on Monday expressed concern about the collapse of civic infrastructure during the monsoon and said that an institutionalised mechanism should be put in place for scheduled inspections of facilities by senior officers.
Principal Secretary of Delhi LG wrote to Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar that "All HODS/ Secretaries/Principal Secretaries/Additional Chief Secretaries shall draw up a schedule of field inspections. The inspection note of Principal Secretary/ Secretary of the department shall be submitted to Chief Secretary with copy endorsed to LG Secretariat and the Minister In-charge." "The frequency of inspections by Secretary of the concerned Department/ agency should be Fortnightly, HoD of the concerned Department/agency weekly and Principal secretary Fortnightly." "All the District Magistrates should interact with Resident Welfare Associations in their jurisdictions once in a month to find out the issues faced and resolve it by taking up with concerned departments." The rising concern follows a recent incident in the national capital, where the basement of a coaching institute in Delhi's Old Rajendra Nagar area was flooded after heavy rainfall hit the city.Earlier, the Delhi High Court ordered officials to visit the affected areas to ensure change.The court ordered that an affidavit detailing the actions taken be submitted by Thursday. It also mandated that all relevant files be produced before the court and that the MCD Director must be present. Additionally, Delhi Police should be added as a respondent in the case. The court listed the Rajendra Nagar incident matter for Friday and remarked, "All these constructions are only coming up in connivance with the system. You have to fix responsibility." The court's view is that the problematic constructions are a result of systemic issues and emphasizes the need to identify and hold accountable those responsible.During the hearing, the Court indicated issuing orders to identify and assign accountability for the infrastructural failures and to ensure that the issue is addressed through a formal statutory process.During the hearing of a Public Interest Litigation concerning the Rajendra Nagar incident, the Delhi High Court criticized the Delhi Government, the MCD, and other civic authorities. The court questioned why century-old infrastructure had not been upgraded, despite the liberalization of bylaws. (ANI)
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