AAP alleges desilting not done, Delhi may face flooding

Amit Kumar, the spokesperson of the unified MCD, said the corporation has been working on war footing and 66% of desilting work has been completed with removal of 60,000 tonnes of waste.

Senior Aam Aadmi Party leader Durgesh Pathak on Sunday said that the municipal corporations under the BJP-rule have failed to clean the city drains in time for monsoon, and added that capital may face waterlogging again due to choked drains.

The corporation has chalked out a plan to clean all the drains before June 15. (Burhaan/HT Photo)

“Over the past 15 years [when the BJP-ruled MCD was in existence], the entire city used to get flooded during monsoon.The BJP did not initiate the process of removing silt from the drains that are managed by the civic agencies, which form 95% of Delhi’s drainage system,” Pathak said and demanded that work should immediately begin to save the city from waterlogging woes.

Amit Kumar, the spokesperson of the unified MCD, said the corporation has been working on war footing and 66% of desilting work has been completed with removal of 60,000 tonnes of waste. “The corporation has chalked out a plan to clean all the drains before June 15. MCD has adequate equipment and personnel to carry out work in time for the monsoon,” Kumar said.

Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor rejected Pathak’s charges as a “blatant lie”. “Around 75% of Delhi’s drains are under Delhi government. All major drains such as Barapullah, Najafgarh and the drains on roads more than 30 ft wide fall under the ambit of Delhi government’s PWD, Jal Board & Flood Department. The small drains located along the roads in colonies under the MCD,” said Kapoor. He charged that none of the government agencies were carrying out any desilting work