Not time to blame each other: Lieutenant Governor on Saurabh Bharadwaj alleging delay in NDRF deployment
New Delhi: Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena Friday asked Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj not to indulge in a blame game after the minister alleged delay in the deployment of NDRF in repairing an irrigation department regulator that exacerbated the city's already dire flood situation.
In the presence of the L-G, who was interacting with media persons at the site of the damaged regulator, Bharadwaj claimed that he reached out to the officers, asking them to deploy NDRF teams to make the repairs but "there was no response".
"We wrote to the chief secretary on WhatsApp group last night to call NDRF else water might enter sensitive areas of Delhi... But, our messages were ignored," the Delhi minister claimed.
In response, the L-G said, "This is the time for teamwork, not blaming each other. I could say a lot of things too, but it's not necessary at the moment."
Speaking about the alleged delay in NDRF deployment, Bharadwaj claimed that despite repeated requests to Divisional Commissioner Ashwani Kumar on Thursday night, NDRF teams were not deployed.
"Ashwani Kumar is the divisional commissioner and NDRF was not called at night even after repeated requests from a minister. Will they do anything because of the ordinance?" he posed in a tweet.
No immediate response was available from the divisional commissioner on allegations levelled by Bharadwaj.
L-G office sources said the problem of a breach in the regulator required urgent engineering solutions and the responsibility lay with the flood control department and the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) of the Delhi government.
"The Irrigation and Flood Control Department and DJB have full-fledged engineering wings of their own. However, they could not carry out the necessary works despite a lapse of more than 12 hours," a source said.
With the "proactive intervention" of the L-G, who was consistently in touch with Union Home Minister Amit Shah since early morning, the Engineering Corps of the Indian Army was deployed to stop river water to restore the damaged regulator and stop its flow into the drain, sources said.
Work started in the morning and by the time the L-G reached the site, the backflow into the drain had been substantially stopped, they said.
"Bharadwaj indulged in gross behaviour by claiming in front of the media that he had been calling the divisional commissioner since last night for NDRF deployment to repair the regulator. It was uncalled for," a source in the L-G office said.
The position regarding NDRF deployment was clarified to Bhardwaj by the divisional commissioner in front of the L-G and Delhi Minister Atishi, sources said.
The NDRF is mandated for carrying out relief and rescue operations and it is not responsible for regular engineering works, they said.
The regulator near WHO building on Ring Road, which was meant to stop Yamuna water from entering drain number 12, collapsed on Thursday evening.
The water from the overflowing river started to flow into the city through the drain, inundating the Ring Road, Indraprastha Metro Station, IP Depot, ITO, Vikas Marg and was fast leading up to the Mathura Road and the Supreme Court Complex.
