Arvind Kejriwal calls for concerted efforts to tackle flooding in Delhi

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress blamed the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, accusing them of shoddy work that led to waterlogging, especially at Minto Bridge, where a person drowned in the inundation.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Sunday all agencies must work together to clear waterlogged parts of the city, after a spell of heavy rain flooded several areas in the national capital.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said this is no time to get into any blame game. All agencies must join hands in fulfilling their responsibilities. (Raj K Raj/HT PHOTO)

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress blamed the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, accusing them of shoddy work that led to waterlogging, especially at Minto Bridge, where a person drowned in the inundation.

Kejriwal tweeted, “This year all agencies, which include the Delhi government and the municipal corporations, were completely invested in managing corona. They have faced a lot of difficulties due to Corona. This is no time to get into any blame game. All agencies must join hands in fulfilling their responsibilities. We will make all efforts to clear areas where waterlogging is reported at the earliest.”

In another tweet, he said, “I’ve been with agencies since this morning and was monitoring the process of removing water from there. There are several such areas in Delhi which are being monitored. We shall send pumps immediately to areas in which waterlogging is reported.”

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in turn lashed out at the Delhi government. Attaching photographs of a bus submerged at Minto Bridge and of other waterlogged areas in Delhi, Badarpur MLA Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, leader of the opposition in the Delhi Assembly, tagged Kejriwal on Twitter and asked him about his promise to make Delhi a world-class city.

“@ArvindKejriwal ji, what happened to your claim of making Delhi at par with Paris and London? In a short spell of rain, Delhi roads are flooded with water. Who is responsible for the death of the person (at Minto bridge)?” Bidhuri tweeted.

The BJP said the situation at Minto Bridge could have been averted had government agencies like the Public Works Department (PWD) and the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) taken timely action.

Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta said, “It is very unfortunate that a person lost his life due to waterlogging. We don’t want to indulge in any blame game, but it is clear that the Delhi government didn’t do its job properly.”

He added, “The entire Minto Bridge area is under the Delhi government’s PWD. They didn’t start the pump on time, due to which it led to waterlogging at the bridge. The excess water is pumped into a DJB drain, which was clogged. We have been raising the issue of cleaning drains for a long time. If PWD and DJB had done their job on time, this tragedy could have been averted.”

Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia asked BJP leaders to not pin blame and instead “coordinate and cooperate” with the government to tackle the issue.

Sisodia said, “I want to tell BJP leaders that this is not the time to engage in politics and they should issue directions to agencies under them to focus on coordination and cooperation that is needed to tackle this issue. Delhi has witnessed focused efforts of agencies in Covid management. Together, the government and municipal agencies can handle this problem (waterlogging) too. I urge senior BJP leaders to introspect.”

Aam Aadmi Party’s national spokesperson Raghav Chadha, said de-silting of drains in the city got delayed this year because of Covid-19 crisis, but added it was “unfortunate” that the BJP sought to make it a political issue.

Chadha, who is also the vice-chairperson of the Delhi Jal Board, said, “It is unfortunate that several BJP leaders have engaged in a blame-game and they are making the issue political. We chose not to engage in politics over the issue…. Drains that come under the jurisdiction of the Delhi government and the municipal corporations are cleared before the arrival of monsoons, especially in April. This year, all agencies were invested in Covid management, so work concerning drains either got postponed or delayed. Agencies could properly get into clearing and de-silting drains only by June. The current issue is being monitored personally by the CM.”

The Congress said the BJP-led civic agencies and the AAP government are to be blamed for the mess. “They are just blaming each other and trying to shrug the responsibility. Both parties are to be blamed for the present crisis, as they are in power in the municipal corporations and at the Delhi government,” said Anil Chaudhary, Delhi Congress chief.