HC dissatisfied with cleanliness efforts of civic agencies

NEW DELHI: Delhi High Court today voiced dissatisfaction over the civic agencies' efforts to clean up the national capital, saying that the "officialdom" was preventing compliance of its orders to periodically remove rubble and garbage from public areas, especially in Dwarka sub-city.

Terming as "pathetic" the extent of pollution, garbage and filth in Delhi, a bench of justices Badar Durrez Ahmed and Jayant Nath gave the civic bodies a final opportunity till November 24 to "come good with their promise" to clean up Dwarka.

The bench questioned whether the officials in the agencies "had a heart" as they were not doing their job despite the fact that even people close to them were suffering from the effects of lack of cleanliness.

"Don't you have a heart? Are people close to you not suffering? Why are you not doing their job? You are getting paid for it. People are suffering while the bureaucracy goes on enjoying.

"We are absolutely dissatisfied with the agencies, including SDMC, DDA and Delhi Police, looking after Delhi. The officialdom has prevented compliance of our orders. The fact of matter is garbage is lying all around roads, construction sites, market areas and if at all, very little is being done," it said.

The court said if the civic agencies, including South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) and Delhi Development Authority (DDA) are unable to clean up Dwarka, "which was one of the better places" in the national capital, how would they clean up the places which were worse off.

It said the submissions made in the court by lawyers for the civic bodies "did not reflect the ground reality".

It pulled up the SDMC for submitting "misleading" photographs which showed that certain areas in the sub-city were clean. The bench pointed to the discrepancies in the pictures and said that earlier the corporation had submitted photo-shopped images.