Blame game over waterlogging in Delhi-NCR

New Delhi [India], Sep 1 (ANI): A political blame game has started after the heavy downpour on Saturday morning triggered excessive waterlogging and traffic snarls across Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR).

Criticising the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government for not doing enough to cope up with the rain-related issues, senior Congress leader Jai Prakash Aggarwal told ANI, "His (Arvind Kejriwal) real face is getting exposed gradually. Next time, he should ask for votes on the basis of his work and not caste of candidates."

Aggarwal, a former Member of Parliament from Delhi, also alleged that "Arvind Kejriwal is dividing the people socially and is of low mentality."

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) being ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Public Works Department (PWD) falls under the AAP government.

Passing the buck to the Kejriwal government, BJP leader Manoj Tiwari said that developing the infrastructure of the city is not only the sole responsibility of the MCD but also of the PWD.

Tiwari hit out at the Delhi government and said it didn't make any efforts to resolve the waterlogging problem despite being in power for more than three years.

"This issue has not been solved yet. This is not a new problem as it has arisen since the time of Congress government. Is the government of Arvind Kejriwal really serious about solving all these matters?" Tiwari questioned.

However, Aam Aadmi Party leader Atishi Marlena blamed the multiplicity of governance in Delhi for the waterlogging issues and pushed for full statehood to resolve the matter.

"Delhi has a multiplicity of governance and there are roads and sewers belonging to different agencies such as PWD, MCD, South MCD and so on. PWD sewerage couldn't be cleaned for four months due to the strike of IAS officials. Delhi issues cannot be resolved until all agencies of Delhi are brought under a unified authority. It is because of this reason that Aam Aadmi Party is continuously campaigning for full statehood for Delhi and till it happens, people of Delhi have to face such problem".

On a question about waterlogging and steps taken by the PWD in this regard, Atishi said, "There has been intensive de-silting of PWD sewerage in the last two months. It has been raining continuously today and we have installed water pumps in different areas of Delhi and the water is being drained out." (ANI)

This story has not been edited. It has been published as provided by ANI