Delhi Zoo authorities blamed the civic agencies like Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) for the floods in the zoo, which its closure for an "indefinite period" as most of the animal enclosures are inundated.
"We have been repeatedly requesting the civic agencies like MCD and the DJB to fix the drainage system and the storm water drains of the zoo, but they have not heeded our pleas," complained a zoo official.
According to zoo authorities, the national zoological park, which is in low lying area, was flooded by water flowing in from neighbouring areas like Bapa Nagar, Old Fort and Sunder Nagar. Adding to this, the DJB sewer water gets mixed with rain water in few enclosures as the DJB sewer line runs parallel to the zoo boundary wall.
However, refuting the charges made by the zoo authorities, the DJB official said: "The DJB has no presence in the zoo, which has its own drainage system."
"However, whenever the sewage blockage problem arises particularly during the monsoon season, we have set up pumps to drain out the water," the DJB official said.
Meanwhile, an MCD official said: "It will take another five months for the storm water drains to be fixed and we cannot do anything immediately."
Zoo officials were having none of it.
"We have been holding regular weekly meetings with the MCD and DJB, but the problem is yet to be solved. We have now three permanent pumps to drain and fixed three additional pumps to drain out the water," the zoo official said. Read the full report here.
Source: Daijiworld.com.
