Bharadwaj attacks BJP over ITO barrage maintenance issue

New Delhi: Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj on Sunday attacked the BJP, saying the party falsely accused the AAP of not paying for the maintenance of the ITO barrage even though it is managed by the Haryana government.

“BJP’s Ramesh Bidhuri should know that the ITO barrage is managed by the Haryana government, which accepted that the barrage was not maintained, five gates were not opened and this led to the rise in Yamuna’s water levels. This is also the reason why there was a breach in our regulator,” Bharadwaj said at a press conference here.

“To cover up for the damage caused by them, the BJP has come up with the excuse that the Delhi government is not paying for the maintenance of the barrage,” he alleged.

The AAP leader further claimed that letters were written by the Delhi government to Haryana in 2017 and in 2021, seeking the handover of the ITO barrage to the national capital.

“In 2017, Secretary of Irrigation and Flood Control of Delhi, IAS officer Keshav Chandra, had told the Haryana government in a letter to give the barrage back to the Delhi government. He also referred to a 2015 meeting of Delhi and Haryana officers where the same matter was discussed. In 2021, another letter was sent to the Haryana government asking them to hand over the barrage, citing no maintenance,” he claimed.

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Saturday formed a two-member fact-finding committee to look into the jammed gates of the ITO barrage in Delhi.