HC issues contempt notices to officials on decade-old PIL on waterlogging in Jodhpur

Jodhpur: A PIL petition filed at Rajasthan High Court nearly a decade ago seeking a dependable solution to Jodhpur city’s chronic waterlogging crises during the monsoon season has now resulted in the HC issuing contempt notices to top officials of three civic bodies and ask the district collector why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against him for “wilful and intentional violation of the court’s order”.
This is for the first time in the tortuous course of this PIL, which was filed in 2015, that the HC has adopted such a stern stance against officials. Taking note of the waterlogging mayhem the city witnessed yet again during the current monsoon, a division bench comprising Justices Kuldeep Mathur and Shree Chandrashekhar at the HC’s principal seat in Jodhpur issued contempt notices to the commissioner of Jodhpur Development Authority (JDA) and the commissioners of both the municipal corporations (north and south) for their failure to discharge their duties. The HC also asked the district collector in the Aug 27 order why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against him for violation of the court’s order and sought an affidavit from him on this. Terming the administration’s compliance report as unreliable, it listed the matter for the next hearing on Oct 7.
These orders were passed by the division bench on Aug 27, and the order was made available on Sept 2. In its two previous orders in Aug, the HC had directed the administration to furnish a layout of the city’s drainage system and provide details of the remedial measures taken so far to rid Jodhpur of waterlogging problems during the monsoon.