Water logging: AAP, BJP play blame game

Several localities and arterial roads in the Capital were waterlogged after heavy showers lashed Delhi over the last couple of days, leading to severe traffic snarls and causing massive inconvenience to residents of the city.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) spokesperson Dilip Pandey on Thursday criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led municipal corporations in the city for the water logging situation and raised concerns about alleged corruption.

Adesh Gupta, the BJP’s Delhi unit president, however, blamed the PWD for not de-silting the drains under its jurisdiction and said that’s what led to the water logging.(Sanchit Khanna/HT PHOTO)

“The water logging situation in Delhi reflects the corruption in the BJP-led municipal corporations. The three municipal corporations of Delhi (MCDs) have failed in their responsibility of de-silting and clearing drains. Around 98% of drains in the city are under the MCDs. A proper budget is allocated for de-silting of drains but nobody knows where the money goes. The MCDs under the BJP are in the most inefficient condition and they (the BJP) shall get an answer in the next municipal elections in 2022,” Pandey said in a press conference at the party office in central Delhi.

Several localities and arterial roads in the Capital were waterlogged after heavy showers lashed Delhi over the last couple of days, leading to severe traffic snarls and causing massive inconvenience to residents of the city.

Adesh Gupta, the BJP’s Delhi unit president, however, blamed the PWD for not de-silting the drains under its jurisdiction and said that’s what led to the water logging. He said the Delhi government had claimed to spend ₹100 crore on cleaning of drains but this claim was “washed away in the water”.

“Despite having the Drainage Master Plan approved, the Delhi government has not implemented it yet, due to which Delhi gets waterlogged even with little rain. The PWD, under the Delhi government, did not complete even 50% of silt removal from the drains before the monsoon. Arvind Kejriwal talks about making Delhi London, but due to the negligence and poor policies of his government, Delhi is now flooded in rain.” he said.

CORRUPTION CHARGES

In the same press conference, Durgesh Pathak, in charge of municipal corporation affairs, demanded that the building surveys by the MCDs be probed and those found guilty of corruption be given strict punishment.

“The MCDs are supposed to survey buildings every year. The North MCD, under mayor Jai Prakash, had submitted its report last month which stated that around two out of 800,000 buildings surveyed are in a vulnerable state and could collapse any time. In the last 24 hours, two buildings have collapsed in the northern municipal zone. This raises concerns about the survey and suggests corruption. We demand that this be probed and those found guilty be given strict punishment,” Pathak said.

A police officer died and another was injured after a building in North Delhi collapsed on Wednesday.

Responding to Pathak’s allegations, Jai Prakash, mayor of the north corporation, said, “Allegations levelled against me are absolutely baseless. I inspected the location where the building collapsed yesterday and have ordered a probe into the matter. I will also send a legal notice to Pathak for making false allegations and tarnishing my image.”