Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva on Monday held the Arvind Kejriwal led AAP government responsible for creating flood like situation in the national Capital, calling it ‘incompetent’.
Hitting at the Delhi government over the water logging situation in the city, he said, “Delhi has 287 identified dangerous waterlogging spots, and on Friday, more than 250 of these locations had non-functional pumps.”
He added that on the day Delhi received a record-breaking rainfall of 228 mm, over 400 out of the total 696 permanent water drainage pumps installed by the Public Works Department (PWD) in the city were. “According to our information, more than 100 pumps were non-functional because they did not have diesel,” Sachdeva said.
Additionally, he said, “465 pumps are installed in Delhi by the Delhi Jal Board, the Flood Department, and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, and most of these are still not working. Proof of this is that two days after the flooding, Minister Atishi herself visited the pumping station at Minto Road Bridge, and even then, three out of eight pumps were not operational.”
“At the Bharti Nagar Pumping Station, the pumps of the Public Works Department of the Delhi government were found to be non-functional on Friday, and the situation has not improved satisfactorily,” the Delhi BJP Chief claimed while mentioning that every year during the monsoon, around 1300 additional temporary water drainage pumps are rented and installed, but this year not a single one has been installed.
He claimed that the Kejriwal government's argument, that the necessary tender could not be issued due to the election code of conduct, is false. “However, the truth is that the government, engrossed in securing the Chief Minister's bail and fighting elections, did not pay attention to this essential task,” he said.
“Renting additional water drainage pumps for the monsoon is an annual public interest task, and if the Arvind Kejriwal government, intoxicated by power, had written a letter to the Election Commission seeking special permission, it would have certainly been granted, but they did not consider it necessary,” he alleged
The Delhi BJP President said that the excuse of not being able to install additional water drainage pumps due to the election code of conduct is weak, as the code ended on June 5. “The Public Works Minister Atishi could have tendered on June 6 or 7 and installed additional pumps by June 20,” he said.
Sachdeva challenged Atishi to disclose how many permanent and temporary water drainage pumps are needed during the monsoon and how many are currently operational.
He said, “The drowning of 11 people in the capital city is shameful. The BJP demands that the Delhi government provide one crore rupees in compensation to the bereaved families of these helpless individuals.” Sachdeva demanded compensation from the Delhi government and the MCD “for the damage caused to traders of wholesale markets in Old Delhi, as well as to ground floor and basement homes and offices throughout the city.”
