India News | Opposition Parties Slam AAP Government over Waterlogging

New Delhi, Sep 11 (PTI) Delhi units of the Congress and the BJP hit out at the Aam Aadmi Party government after several areas of the national capital again reported waterlogging and traffic jams on Saturday following heavy rains.

While the leader of the opposition, Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, termed the Arvind Kejriwal-led government a "mute spectator to the suffering", Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president Anil Kumar Chaudhary said the chief minister was "oblivious to the misery of the people".

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In a statement, BJP leader Bidhuri claimed that no official or minister of the Delhi government was seen on the roads taking stock of the situation or assisting the people.

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"Earlier, if flooding took place, pumps were pressed into service to drain out the water and measures were taken to restore normalcy as soon as possible.

"But during the monsoon season this year, the Kejriwal government has turned a blind eye to all this, and the chief minister went on a ten-day meditation to Rajasthan while the deputy chief minister was busy doing political rallies in Uttarakhand and UP,'' Bidhuri said.

Heavy rains lashed the national capital Saturday morning, leaving the forecourt of the Delhi airport and other parts of the city waterlogged.

According to civic agencies, several areas in the city including Moti Bagh, RK Puram, Madhu Vihar, Hari Nagar, Rohtak Road, Badarpur, Som Vihar, Ring Road near IP Station, Vikas Marg, Sangam Vihar, Mehrauli-Badarpur Road, Pul Prahladpur Underpass, Munirka, Rajpur Khurd, Nangloi and Kirari also witnessed waterlogging.

The BJP leader demanded that PWD put facts and figures in the public domain about "how much it has invested in the cleaning of drains and if it was not done then, who should be held responsible for such lapses".

Chaudhary too criticised Kejriwal for waterlogging and traffic jams in the national capital.

"When the streets of the national capital were submerged in rain waters even after moderate rains, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal took time off for a 10-day Vipassana meditation for his personal well-being, while Delhiites underwent immense suffering because of heavy traffic jams, water-logging and generally disturbed life," Chaudhary said in a statement.

He added that the people of Delhi would give Kejriwal "a befitting reply in the MCD elections for testing their patience and perseverance with non-performance, inefficiency and corruption".

There was no immediate reaction from the AAP. The party has in the past sought to blame the BJP-ruled municipal bodies for the drainage issues.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had last month chaired a meeting on the city's drainage plan and said that the national capital's drainage system will be improved and made “world-class” and Delhi will “get rid of waterlogging”.

He had said that necessary changes as suggested by IIT Delhi will be made to “bolster” the city's drainage system and make it foolproof.

Taking a dig at Chief Minister Kejriwal, Delhi BJP leader and national secretary of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha Tejinder Bagga on Saturday shared a video of himself on a rafting boat in a waterlogged street in Bhajanpura area of northeast Delhi.

"This season I wanted to go to Rishikesh for rafting but due to Coronavirus and continuous lockdown I could not go.

"But I want to thank Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal ji as he has made arrangement of rafting in every nook and corner of Delhi (as streets are waterlogged). He should also hang boards of his this feat as he does in every case,” Bagga said in the video.

(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)