Blame game: Torrential rains in various parts of India have led to various problems. Many areas in the national capital witnessed water-logged roads. People were plagued by multiple problems due to the heavy rain over the weekend, however, a blame game erupted amid arduous conditions in Delhi. Lashing out at the Delhi government, Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena said that the city faced the "annual ritual" of waterlogging as drains were not properly de-silted. Soon, the comment from L-G, prompted a sharp reaction from the AAP government.
In reaction, Delhi Water Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj slammed the L-G saying that he is blaming the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government even though he had earlier claimed that the drains were de-silted and the Yamuna was cleaned.
Saxena launched a scathing attack on AAP govt
"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.
"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 LG said.
He inspected various places in Delhi
L-G also inspected the Pragati Maidan tunnel and the Minto Bridge and Jakhira passes that were closed due to waterlogging last week. He has directed the agencies concerned to rectify the defects. "There was a problem of backflow of water 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 LG directed the officials to rectify it immediately," a Raj Niwas official said.
Bharadwaj's sharp reaction
Bharadwaj slammed the LG in a series of tweets, saying he should not indulge in "dirty politics" when people expect relief. "Hasn't LG saab been claiming that he got all drains desilted and Yamuna cleaned? Didn't he take media for several visits? What happened now? Now he is shamelessly blaming Delhi govt," he asked.