India News | AAP, BJP Trade Charges in Delhi Assembly over Waterlogging, Desilting of Drains

New Delhi, Jul 29 (PTI) The AAP and opposition BJP traded charges over waterlogging and desilting of drains on the first day of the Delhi Assembly's Monsoon Session on Thursday, with PWD Minister Satyendar Jain dubbing the city's municipal corporations as the "most corrupt" organisations in the world.

The BJP MLAs hit back at the ruling party, accusing the Public Works Department of not undertaking cleaning of drains before the onset of the monsoon.

Participating in a short duration discussion, AAP MLAs alleged that there is corruption in the three municipal corporations (MCDs) ruled by the BJP and claimed that their party will come to power in the MCDs and make them work efficiently.

The AAP MLAs, including Akhileah Pati Tripathi who initiated the debate, Rohit Mehrolia, Haji Yunus, Abdul Rahman and Somnath Bharti lauded the PWD and the Arvind Kejriwal government for preventing waterlogging at Minto bridge underpass through effective arrangements.

They said the PWD desilted all the drains under the bridge but the MCDs failed to do so which is why the city was facing issues of waterlogging.

"The PWD properly desilted the drains under its jurisdiction, but the MCDs which is responsible for maintaining 98 per cent of the drains in the city could not do so, leading to waterlogging problems faced by the people," Bharti charged.

He claimed that the municipal corporations will be run "effectively and honestly" to make Delhi a "world class" city after the AAP comes to power in the civic bodies.

BJP MLA Ajay Mahawar blamed the PWD for "failing" to desilt drains under its jurisdiction.

His party colleague Abhay Verma also alleged that the PWD-controlled big drains which were not properly cleaned were responsible for problems because of which the water of smaller drains was flowing back.

He suggested that instead of finding fault, all the stakeholders should get down to find a solution to the waterlogging problem.

Replying to the debate, Jain slammed the BJP for "corruption" in the municipal corporations.

He said pumps have been deployed in adequate numbers to drain out water from over 1,200 kilometres of PWD roads in the city.

"The BJP-ruled MCDs are embroiled in corruption. They are the most corrupt organisations in the world. According to an estimate, Rs 10,000 crore is being pocketed by the civic bodies annually through corruption via building permissions," Jain charged.

He also alleged that the drains under the BJP-ruled MCD were not desilted for years leading to waterlogging on the roads and residential colonies.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)