Will suspend officers, HC warns MCD over drowning deaths
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday rapped the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) over the deaths of a woman and her three-year-old son who drowned in a drain in east Delhi on July 31, saying the civic body has become a “cosy club” with its senior officials lacking the courage to take action against non-performing employees.
A Bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela also noted that photographs of the location where the incident took place showed a “shocking state of affairs”, with waste lying along the road for months, if not years. The court warned that it would start suspending senior officials.
“They [MCD officials] fly like a bee and sting like a butterfly. They don’t have the courage to take action against their own officials. There is no brotherly love over here. If someone is not performing, pull him up. Senior officers have to perform an unpleasant task,” the Bench said hearing a plea over the incident.
It also directed the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), which owns a portion of the drain, to barricade open drains and file a status report.
The court raised concerns with respect to the absence of the MCD Standing Committee, the civic body’s main decision-making arm that has executive powers to grant approval to projects worth over ₹5 crore.
‘No purpose served’
“The MCD is not serving anyone’s purpose. Let it be dissolved,” the exasperated court said.
As both DDA and MCD counsels maintained that the incident did not take place in their respective jurisdictions, the court said it was not getting into the issue and asked the police to complete its investigation promptly.
It said the incident showed there was “criminal negligence” and asked the investigating officer to file a status report and listed the matter for hearing on August 22. The investigating officer said notices had been sent to the MCD and the DDA in the case.
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