Sewage crisis looms as drains remain clogged

NEW DELHI: Authorities in Delhi obviously don’t believe that the best time to repair the roof, drains in this case, is when the sun is shining. The drains in the city have not been desilted as per schedule and a sewage backflow crisis seems imminent when rains arrive.
Contractors are yet to accept tenders floated by Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).Two reasons are being cited. Many contractors say they have not been paid for the past three years.
According to Vishwas Nagar councillor R S Pawar, MCD changed the mode of payment because contractors were overcharging.
MCD’s vigilance wing detected the practice and stopped payment to such contractors. Last year MCD decided to change the system of payment. Instead of paying by the number of sewage mounds, it decided to pay by the weight of sewage desilted from the drains allocated to each contractor.
‘‘The money MCD was paying to them reduced by half. Contractors are irked over this,� said the councillor.
MCD standing committee chairman Ram Babu Sharma admitted there had been an inordinate delay in desilting, but claimed that the agency was not to be blamed.‘‘So far contractors have been inflating the bills. After changing the mode of payment, we spend only Rs 7 lakh against the Rs 10 lakh we were paying earlier even as the amount of sewage desilted doubled,’’ Sharma said.
‘‘I have also ordered the commissioner to blacklist such contractors and hire daily wagers. We will finish the task by June 15,� he
said.