Delhi under duress
it is again time for the monsoons to strike Delhi. Again, as before, the government of the capital city of India is unprepared to check flooding in low-lying areas ( pushta ) around the Yamuna. The excuse that the Delhi government's flood and irrigation department give is that, they do not have a departmental head for the past two years. But, ironically, thousands of pushta dwellers, who would inevitably have to make a quick exit once the floods strike, are indifferent.
"The floods come every year, so what is new? We will move to Moghul Bund if the water rises and if need be, shift to the main road,' said Bhendu Khan, dairy owner at the Moolchand Basti Pushta. A two-year-old report submitted by a committee headed by the former urban development minister Sahib Singh, still stands unimplemented.
One of the solutions forwarded included the building of an embankment parallel to the one in Haryana, within the borders of Delhi. The embankment was proposed to run from Palla to the Grand Trunk Road near Singhu village in Delhi and was estimated at a cost of Rs 12 crore.