New Delhi, March 10 (IANS) Taking serious note of the fact that civic agencies are not performing their duties efficiently, the Delhi High Court Wednesday issued notice to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), the Delhi government and the Delhi Police over the death of a man after his car fell into an open drain last year.

Justice Sanjiv Khanna directed them to file their response by July 21.

The court was hearing a petition by the victim's mother Sunita Talwar, seeking compensation of Rs.50 lakh on account of death of her son Vicky Talwar, 28, Sep 17 last year. Vicky, along with the car, fell into the drain due to negligence and carelessness on the part of the MCD and its contractors, the petition said.

The petitioner submitted that the MCD and its contractors were undertaking construction work on Pankha Road without taking any safety measures, resulting in the car falling into the drain.

'Had the appropriate safety measures been taken by the MCD and its contractors, the accident resulting in death of Vicky could have been avoided,' argued advocate Ashok Agarwal, counsel for petitioner.

'The court can take judicial notice of the fact that in the absence of availability of authorized parking lots, the persons are forced to park their vehicles in whatever place they are found and, therefore, the deceased could not be blamed for parking at the place, which might not even be an authorized parking lot,' added Agarwal.