NEW DELHI: Delhi High Court on Wednesday expressed unhappiness over a report filed by a chief secretary-led panel to review the city’s administrative, financial, and physical infrastructure. The court pointed out that the committee’s report focused only on the drainage system in the city.
“A preliminary glance at the report showed that it was confined to the drainage system in Delhi. However, this court asked the committee to review the administrative, physical, and financial infrastructure of Delhi in its entirety…we are inclined to refer the entire issue of review of administrative, physical, and financial infrastructure of Delhi to the cabinet secretary of the Union of India,” said a bench of Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela.
The counsel representing Delhi govt urged the court to grant some time to the committee for filing a supplementary report and assured the bench that he would escalate the issue with the committee.
“We want the report; otherwise, we will send it to the cabinet secretary. We will ask the cabinet secretary to examine it,” the court stated, adding there was a multiplicity of authorities in Delhi.
“Departments are working in silos. They are not coordinating. We said earlier also there was a lack of coordination between the authorities. The fact that we asked the authorities to sit together and work showed that the system was not working,” it said. The court listed the matter for further hearing on Nov 28.
Earlier, while hearing a case relating to safety measures in the coaching centres, the court said that one needed to look at the bigger picture because there was a far more fundamental problem in the city, and it was time to relook at Delhi’s administrative, financial, and physical infrastructure, which was outdated and not in line with present-day needs.
It formed a committee, comprising chief secretary, DDA vice-chairman, police commissioner and MCD commissioner, to deal with the issue and submit a report.
