After several hearings and adverse orders, the Public Works Department (PWD) has now assured the Delhi High Court of making the Kushak Nullah ‘absolutely clean and pristine’ by April.
The department, which has submitted its plan before a Bench headed by Justice B. D. Ahmed, said so during the hearing of a contempt petition moved by Manjeet Singh Chugh, vice-president of the New Delhi South Extension RWA.
The Bench, which seemed unconvinced, said it would wait and watch. “Are you sure you will clean it by April? It should be absolutely clean and pristine by then,” said Justice Ahmed.
“Yes, we will make it absolutely clean,” the PWD counsel submitted.
The Bench also wondered why plastic waste and garbage blocking the nullah were not cleaned regularly. It has now posted the matter for April, which is when it has sought a report on the work done.
‘Nullah burdened by waste’
In the past hearings, Mr. Chugh had highlighted how work on the Barapullah elevated corridor resulted in debris and waste blocking the six-km-long drain that takes away waste from Mehrauli, Sangam Vihar, INA, Greater Kailash, AIIMS, and nearby areas.
During one hearing, the PWD had even gone to the extent of saying that a nullah could not be like a river.
This time, the government agency said, “The construction of Barapullah elevated road over the Barapullah Nullah is in progress. The targeted date of completion is April 2017. Around 95% work has been completed...the agency has planned to clear the nullah basin till March 2017.”
Despite being granted time to clean the nullah in June 2016, as per its own undertaking, the PWD failed to do so leading to contempt petition being filed.
