Waterlogging now annual ritual in Delhi, AAP govt retorts: LG Saxena

A blame game erupted Tuesday even as people were plagued by multiple problems due to the heavy rain over the weekend, with Delhi 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.

Delhi Water Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj slammed the LG, saying he is blaming the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) 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 lahks 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 LG 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 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 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.

Bharadwaj, who is also chairman of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) that is responsible for cleaning the Yamuna, said the "DJB has been starved of funds by LG saab for last one year. No action on officers who created finance issues. LG and central government have been constantly creating obstacles in Delhi government. They refused to even obey Hon'ble SC orders. Please allow Delhi government to function and stop your dirty politics".

In yet another tweet, he charged that the LG keeps "interfering" in the functioning of the elected city government and said he should rather focus on the law-and-order scenario, which is his primary job.

At a press conference later, Bharadwaj said, "The LG accidentally exposed his own claims and proved he was taking false credit for getting Delhi's drains cleaned."

"In the last six months, the LG took credit for cleaning the Najafgarh drain, Shahdara drain and the Yamuna... Now he is blaming the Delhi government for waterlogging citing non-desilting of these drains," he claimed.

Bharadwaj also alleged that the "favourite officers" of the LG left no stone unturned to stop the work of the Delhi government.

After an emergency meeting on waterlogging and the rising level of the Yamuna on Monday, AAP convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the time was not fit for finger-pointing and all affected states needed to work to help the affected people.