Delhi PWD to carry third party audit of desilting work

New Delhi, Jun 6 (PTI) For better monsoon preparedness, the Public Works Department (PWD) will carry out a third-party audit of desilting work of drains, according to a statement.
     "The competent authority has directed taking up a third-party audit of the work of desilting of PWD drains by the concerned chief engineers immediately," a PWD order issued by the quality assurance unit said on Friday.
     Desilting work by PWD and other agencies has come under scrutiny in the past. Last year the Delhi HC had asked chief secretary Kumar to file an affidavit stating the timeline for completion of drain desilting work. The court was examining a bunch of pleas from residents complaining about waterlogging on roads during every monsoon season.
     Following this, former urban development minister Saurabh Bharadwaj had asked former chief secretary Naresh Kumar to conduct a third-party audit of the desilting work.
     Earlier this month, the PWD minister Parvesh Verma had said that the city was divided into 35 zones where desilting work was underway.
     Till June 2, 35 per cent of the work of desilting had been completed in stormwater drains along the PWD roads. The government has set 15 June as the deadline for remaining desilting work.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)