Waterlogging a ritual, work needed not done: L-G; AAP hits back

Speaking to the media at Yamuna Bazar, the L-G attacked the AAP government for not ensuring the desilting of drains and the Yamuna “over several years”.

Meanwhile, Delhi Cabinet Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj accused Saxena of playing “dirty politics amidst heavy rains.”

Saxena said, “The people of Delhi are fed up with waterlogging; it has become a yearly ritual. The cleaning of sewers is not done, and harvesting of rainwater is not being done properly. This waterlogging is a result of the required work not having been done over several years.”

The Yamuna and Najafgarh drain, the L-G said, should have been desilted to increase their water-holding capacity but this “was not done, triggering waterlogging in the city which was unfortunate”.

Accusing Saxena and the BJP-led Centre of “interfering” in the Delhi government’s functioning and looking the other way about an alleged bid by bureaucrats to starve it of funds, Bharadwaj asked them to refrain from “dirty politics”.

“In the last six months, he (Saxena) made several visits to the drains…he also claimed in front of the media that he has got the Najafgarh drain cleaned up… that he has cleaned up… the Yamuna…,” Bharadwaj said.

“It is clear that today he has been exposed for his lies about getting the drains cleaned and therefore he is now trying to put the blame on the Delhi government,” he added.