PRAYAGRAJ, Aug. 21 -- The Allahabad high court on Thursday directed district authorities to clear waterlogged areas in Prayagraj within 24 hours. The bench comprising Justice Ajit Kumar and Justice Garima Prashad issued the directives in a suo motu public interest litigation, taking note of poor civic condition of the city which had become waterlogged due to incessant rain recently. Prayagraj municipal commissioner Seelam Sai Teja said rainwater in low-lying areas would be pumped out very soon. He also said sanitation work would be carried out to prevent health hazards. "The duty of Municipal Commissioner is to ensure and supervise that enough water pumps are installed in all those areas where waterlogging is still there so that the rain water is pumped out from those areas within the next 24 hours," the court said. "Whatever number of pumps are required shall be obtained from the U.P. Jal Nigam (Urban) Prayagraj and if U.P. Jal Nigam (Urban) Prayagraj is not even having sufficient pumps then it will be the duty of the State Government to ensure that requisite number of pumps are made available within 12 hours from today," it added.htc...