Waterlogging now annual ritual, says L-G, AAP hits back
New Delhi: Heavy rains over the weekend that brought Delhi to a standstill led to a blame game on Tuesday with Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena saying the city faced the “annual ritual” of waterlogging as drains were not properly desilted, prompting a sharp reaction from the AAP government.
Water minister Saurabh Bharadwaj slammed the L-G, saying he is blaming the Aam Aadmi Party government even though he had earlier claimed that the drains were desilted and the Yamuna was cleaned.
Taking stock of the rising water level of the river at the Yamuna Bazar area, Saxena said preparations should have been made beforehand to deal with the unprecedented rain.
“The people of Delhi are hassled due to waterlogging that has become an annual ritual. Proper cleaning of drains and water harvesting are not being done. These have not been done for years, which is why waterlogging happens every time.
“Desilting of the Yamuna and the Najafgarh drain should be regularly done to increase their water-holding capacity. Since it was not done, Delhi was waterlogged,” Saxena told reporters. He also said Delhi’s population has risen by 50 lakh since 2014 but planning was not done accordingly for sewer lines and drainage, which has caused waterlogging. “It is unfortunate and I will try to ensure that attention is paid to it so that people are relieved of these difficulties faced by them every year,” the L-G said. Saxena also inspected the Pragati Maidan tunnel and the Minto Bridge and Jakhira passes that were closed due to waterlogging last week and directed the agencies concerned to rectify the defects.
“There was a water backflow problem in Pragati Maidan while a sewer line was found to have ruptured in the Minto Bridge underpass. A similar kind of problem was at the Jakhira underpass and the L-G directed officials to rectify it immediately,” a Raj Niwas official said. After the visit, Saxena held a meeting with senior officials of the PWD, New Delhi Municipal Council, Municipal Corporation of Delhi, Delhi Jal Board, Irrigation and Flood Control Department and the Railways to review the situation and devise workable solutions to overcome “severe” waterlogging, officials said.
Bharadwaj slammed the L-G in a series of tweets, saying he should not indulge in “dirty politics” when people expect relief.
“Hasn’t the L-G been claiming that he got all drains desilted and Yamuna cleaned? Didn’t he take media personnel for several visits? What happened now? Now he is shamelessly blaming the Delhi government,” he said.
