Delhi: Until FOB built for Rajputana Rifles Regiment, PWD to clean culvert daily
The Public Works Department (PWD) told the Delhi high court on Friday that it will remove debris and garbage from a culvert used daily by more than 3,000 soldiers of the Rajputana Rifles Regiment on their way to the parade ground as a short-term solution until a foot overbridge is constructed. The court took cognizance of a Hindustan Times report highlighting the unsanitary conditions the soldiers were forced to endure and passed an order on Friday directing PWD to ensure the culvert was cleaned so that soldiers could use it until the FOB was built.
The bench, comprising justices Pratibha M Singh and Manmeet PS Arora, observed that the existence of debris and stones will be hazardous for soldiers, especially with monsoons expected to arrive in the coming months, which will make the path muddy and more treacherous.
'While the FOB is designed and built, the engineer in-charge has agreed to get the walking path cleaned with some tiling in the culvert after removal of malba and stones, which could be hazardous. Accordingly, let the cleaning in the area be undertaken forthwith and photographs shall be placed before this bench on June 18 along with the status report,' the court said on Friday.
The PWD engineer said that in-principle approval for the long-pending FOB has been given by the PWD sub-committee on Wednesday. He admitted that this construction would take time due to the area's topography, vehicular movement and the metro line.
On Thursday, PWD officials had conducted a site visit to decide the FOB's location and said that the same was likely to come up between Delhi's metro pillar numbers 64 and 65 of the Delhi Cantonment Board (DCB) and would not require tree felling permission. In the meantime, PWD proposed to make the path used by the soldiers clean by removing the debris on their route through the culvert.
Apprehending the accumulation of mud in the culvert during monsoon, the court also directed PWD to clean the area on a daily basis.
'During monsoon, 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 to the movement of the soldiers in the culvert,' the court said.
The order was passed in a suo motu plea taking cognizance of HT's report, 'A smelly trail from barracks to grounds: Regiment's daily battle in Delhi,' which had shown how 3,000 soldiers of the Rajputana Rifles, the oldest rifle regiment of the Indian Army, located in the Delhi Cantonment, are forced to march through a culvert four times a day– twice before breakfast and twice after dusk. The report highlighted the failure of the Delhi government to construct the FOB at the spot.
During the hearing on Friday, PWD also suggested that traffic signals and a zebra crossing be installed for the soldier's convenience. Considering the suggestion, the court directed the deputy commissioner of police, traffic and PWD to convene a meeting on June 3.
The order said, 'The concerned DCP shall consider the feasibility of creating zebra crossing and the traffic signal, in a manner so that the vehicular movement is also not obstructed in any manner and for a limited time only. Let a meeting be conducted with the DCP traffic and Bhushan (PWD engineer) with the nodal officer in the DCB on June 3, at 11am. The DCB shall appoint a nodal officer for all these works.'
The matter will next be heard on June 18.
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