2 officers suspended after Kejriwal inspects de-silting of drains

Two officers have been suspended for dereliction of duty after an inspection of some of the drains in Delhi by the chief minister and the public works department minister revealed that the status reports about de-silting of drains was misleading and that the officers had misinformed the government.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and PWD Minister Satyendar Jain inspected de-silting works of drains yesterday, according to a Delhi government statement.

"The chief minister, along with the PWD minister, inspected a few drains in the city yesterday to find that status reports about de-silting of drains was misleading and officers had misinformed the government. It is also informed that two officers have been suspended for dereliction of duty," the statement said.

The statement stated that thousands of crores of rupees are spent every year for de-silting the drains before the monsoon.

"However, it is an open secret that most of this de-silting exercise by the civic agencies is just an exercise on papers. It is a multi-crore scam spreading all civic agencies," said the statement issued by the Delhi government.

The visuals of waterlogged roads in Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi, etc. is an annual ritual in TV news, it said.

The Petitions Committee of Delhi Assembly had visited over hundred drains across the city under three civic bodies and the PWD. It was found that most of the reports submitted by civic bodies and the PWD to the Assembly Committee as well as the Delhi High Court were "fabricated" and were far from reality, the statement said.

The drains which were shown to be as 100 per cent de-silted were found overflowing with filth and garbage.

The Assembly Committee had recommended Vigilance and ACB inquiry into this deep-rooted corruption.

Targeting the Lieutenant Governor, the statement added, "The LG who headed the ACB and Vigilance Dept did not even care to initiate the enquiry. The Committee had also recommended action against the then PWD Secretary Ashwani Kumar but LG chose not to take any action on the officer."