Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva demanded the city government to call an all-party meeting within 24 hours on the cleaning of drains and monsoon preparedness or threatened the AAP to be ready to face BJP's protest.
Sachdeva, along with former Delhi Minister Arvinder Singh Lovely, questioned the preparations of the AAP regarding the waterlogging caused by just 15 to 20 minutes of rain in Delhi and said that the rain once again exposed the shortcomings of the AAP government in Delhi.
The state BJP chief showed videos of waterlogging in various parts of Delhi after just 20 minutes of rain, stating that hundreds of crores are being squandered in the name of cleaning drains by the Delhi government's Jal Board, Public Works Department, Flood Department, and Delhi Municipal Corporation.
“Minister Atishi and Mayor Dr. Shelly Oberoi, were constantly claiming that Delhi is prepared for rains now but all claims were proven hollow by just a few minutes of rain. Areas like I.T.O., Sangam Vihar, Burari, Deoli, Kishanganj, Chanderawal, Rajendra Nagar, and Najafgarh, which experienced significant waterlogging on June 28 and July 3, were once again submerged in just a few minutes of rain,” he said.
He stated, “Only scams are happening in the name of cleaning drains in Delhi, and the Delhi government should call an all-party meeting within 24 hours on the cleaning of drains and monsoon preparedness or be ready to face BJP's protest.”
Sachdeva added that if work had been done honestly, Delhi wouldn't be in this situation today.
Out of 750 drains, only around 150 have been cleaned, but the silt removed from them has not been lifted, so it has flowed back into the drains after the rain. He pointed out that people have lost their lives in the last two rains. “It's unfortunate for Delhi to have a government with an insensitive Chief Minister today,” he claimed.
Hitting at the AAP, Lovely said, “Delhi has become a city where residents suffer year-round with water shortages in summer, waterlogging during rains, and pollution in winter. If Minister Atishi and the Mayor Dr. Oberoi had spent as much time working as they did holding press conferences, the situation might have been better today.”
He further stated, “The Chief Minister of Delhi is in jail today, and they keep claiming to run the government from jail, but the crucial and powerful Apex Committee of the Flood Department, which he chairs, has not held its meeting on time this year in January.”
Lovely stated that all ministers of Delhi, along with all MLAs whose constituencies fall in low-lying areas, are members of this committee. “This committee works to prevent waterlogging during floods and monsoons. It has a broad scope of work and budget, but it's not being utilized in Delhi. The high-level committee meeting to prevent waterlogging in the city should be held in January, but this year, it was held in mid-June. If the meeting is held in June, what kind of preparations can be expected for July's waterlogging? This is a matter of concern,” he alleged.
