Delhi LG Mandates Monthly Reports on Civic Inspections After Monsoon Failures

Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena has instructed Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar to provide a monthly report on facility inspections by senior officers following the collapse of civic infrastructure during this monsoon, officials stated on Monday. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) criticised the LG, claiming he is reiterating points already made by the elected government.

In a written communication to the chief secretary, Ashish Kundra, Principal Secretary to Saxena, mentioned that the LG has recommended establishing an institutionalised mechanism for scheduled inspections by senior officers. This would allow them to understand the core issues faced by citizens and implement corrective measures. The chief secretary will distribute a standard inspection report format to all departments and submit a monthly summary of inspections conducted by each officer.

Inspection Mechanism and Responsibilities

Kundra highlighted that even the Delhi High Court has seriously noted the desilting of drains in the capital and made critical observations. According to LG Saxena, this monsoon revealed a complete breakdown of civic infrastructure, resulting in preventable deaths. He noted that drains have not been desilted for years, and sewer lines are clogged, causing flooding even in planned colonies.

The LG's directions require all department heads, secretaries, principal secretaries, or additional chief secretaries to schedule field inspections and ensure thorough checks of all assets or areas. The inspection note from the principal secretary or secretary must be submitted to the chief secretary with copies sent to the LG Secretariat and the minister-in-charge.

Frequency and Scope of Inspections

The communication to Kumar also set the frequency of inspections: department secretaries must conduct them fortnightly, while heads of departments (HODs) must do so weekly. Principal secretaries are also advised to inspect every fortnight. Officers are directed to review institutional mechanisms under various central and state acts and ensure they are fully operational.

The LG insisted on a robust field-level inspection mechanism at the district level under district magistrates (DMs). Inspection notes should be submitted to the divisional commissioner, who will then send a consolidated note to the chief secretary. DMs, SDMs, and ADMs must inspect public delivery services twice a week, focusing on road infrastructure, drains, sewage management, education, transport, etc.

Interaction with Local Communities

The DMs are also required to interact with resident welfare associations monthly to identify and resolve local issues. Executive engineers, deputy directors, and other related officers must accompany DMs during inspections. These inspections should cover all types of settlements such as rural areas, urban areas, planned colonies, JJ colonies, unauthorised colonies, etc.

Reacting to these developments, AAP stated that the urban development minister had directed CS Naresh Kumar to submit timelines for desilting drains by various agencies like MCD, PWD, DDA, I&FC, NDMC etc. However, instead of ensuring desilting was done, CS was busy making excuses for not submitting timelines. Despite multiple directions for a third-party audit of desilting work by agencies, this audit did not occur.

AAP further claimed that no action has been taken against CS or any HODs who failed in their duties. "This note by LG is of no consequence because the Monsoons are almost over. If LG was really serious about desilting, he should have taken action against the officers," said AAP. They questioned why no action was taken against HODs despite acknowledging that tenders worth crores did not yield results due to corruption.

According to Saxena's directions, inspection notes should summarise observed core problems along with corrective measures taken. Reports should include geo-tagged pictures showing conditions before and after interventions. Formulation of rules or authorities under relevant laws should be completed within three weeks.