HC asks PWD to clean culvert, passage in Delhi Cantt area to enable soldiers to walk properly

New Delhi, May 30 (PTI) The Delhi High Court on Friday asked authorities to immediately clean the culvert and the passage used by over 3,000 soldiers of Rajputana Rifles to go to the parade ground in Delhi Cantonment area.

The high court was informed by the superintendent engineer and counsel for the Public Works Department that in-principle approval has been obtained for constructing a foot over bridge (FOB) for the crossing.

A bench of Justices Prathiba M Singh and Manmeet PS Arora said the FOB work should be done at its own pace but the PWD should forthwith clean the area, remove debris and mud, clean the walls and put block tiles there so that the soldiers are able to walk properly.

"The court has perused the photographs of the culvert and the walking path of Rajputana Rifles soldiers. As the FOB designing, tendering, construction etc goes on parallelly, the engineer in-charge has agreed to get the entire walking path cleaned with some tiling in culvert after removal of 'malba' and stones etc which could be hazardous," the bench said.

The court said the cleaning in the area should be undertaken forthwith and asked the authorities to place before it the photographs on June 18 along with the status report.

"During the monsoons there is a possibility of a lot of mud being collected in the area after rains, the maintenance of the area shall be undertaken on a daily basis so that no inconvenience is caused in the movement of soldiers," it added.

On May 26, the high court had taken judicial notice of a news report that over 3,000 soldiers of the Rajputana Rifles have to pass through a drain, which is foul-smelling and filthy, to move out of their barracks and go to the parade ground in Delhi Cantonment area.

"The soldiers are required to pass through this culvert four times a day. The said drain is stated to be flooded and is slick with sludge and sometimes near waist-deep in places," the bench had noted.

Terming it an "unacceptable situation" the high court had noted that a bridge was requested from the Delhi government authorities at the site but it has not yet been built.

"This particular story relating to the soldiers who have to march through this drain is indeed an unacceptable situation. The report states that a bridge was requested but has not yet been built," the bench had said.

During the hearing, the court was informed that it is a low lying area and the height of the culvert is very low.

The PWD official also suggested that a traffic signal could be installed along with a Zebra crossing there with fixed timings when the soldiers’ movement takes place so that they can even use the road for walking across from barracks to the parade ground.

For this purpose, the court issued notice to the Deputy Commissioner of Police concerned who should look into the feasibility of creating a traffic signal and zebra crossing in a way to ensure that vehicular movement is not obstructed.

The bench asked the DCP (traffic) and engineer in-charge to hold a meeting on June 3 with the nodal officer in the Delhi Cantonment Board which should appoint a nodal officer to coordinate all these works. PTI SKV ZMN