New Delhi [India]: The blame game over the Yamuna spill and flooding in the national capital took centrestage yet again, with the BJP’s Delhi chief Virendraa Sachdeva claiming that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal did not plan or prepare for the prevailing situation.
The BJP leader’s remark came in response to Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj’s statement on Saturday that the BJP at the Centre and in neighbouring Haryana had hatched a conspiracy to push the national capital into a flood-like situation.
Speaking to media on Sunday, Sachdeva said, “The rainfall had been predicted in advance. What preparations did CM Kejriwal make? People displaced from the flooded low-lying areas of the Yamuna are being made to sleep under an open sky, on roads. What preparations did the Delhi government make for them?”
Further, coming down heavily on CM Kejriwal, Sachdeva added, “Had he got the Yamuna cleaned on time, the situation in the national capital would not have come to this.”
On six ministers being asked to oversee the arrangements for the displaced at the relief camps, the BJP’s Delhi chief said, “The chief minister did it under pressure, in the face of heavy criticism.
Earlier, the chief secretary, through an official order, announced that 11 senior IAS officers will monitor the rescue and relief operations in the rain-affected districts of Delhi. As the list came out, he (CM Kejriwal) hastily got six of his ministers to visit the relief camps and overseas arrangements, as well.”
Earlier, on Saturday, the Delhi CM entrusted six of his ministers with the responsibility of overseeing the ongoing rescue and relief work in the flood-affected districts of the national capital.
Hitting out at the BJP, Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj on Saturday said, “The ruling BJP and the Haryana government (where BJP is ruling) pushed the national capital into a flood-like situation as part of a well, thought-out conspiracy.”
“All the excess water from the Hathnikund barrage (at Yamunanagar, Haryana) was released deliberately into the Yamuna (in Delhi),” the minister claimed.
The remark was in conflict with the spirit of support and togetherness with which the Delhi CM and Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena had addressed a joint press briefing a day earlier, pledging “teamwork” to rid the city of its water woes.
The L-G said at the joint presser, “I would like to tell you that this is not the time to resort to a blame game or point fingers at each other. Right now, we need to work as a team. I, too, can say a lot of things but this isn’t what we should do at this time.”
