War over drains gets murkier as Saxena, govt. continue to spar
Lieutenant-Governor V.K. Saxena on Sunday inspected three arterial drains in the Nizamuddin area and termed their condition “appalling and shameful”, which he said is contrary to the claims by agencies responsible for their desilting.
The Barapullah, Kushak and Sunehri drains inspected by the L-G come under the Irrigation and Flood Control Department and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).
Reacting to it, the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) blamed Chief Secretary Naresh Sharma for the situation and sought action against him.
Taking to X, Mr. Saxena said the situation requires “urgent corrective measures to ensure smooth flow of water to mitigate flooding”.
“Only five out of the 12 bays under culverts at Barapulla, three out of six bays at Sunehri and four out of seven bays at Kushak drain are open with the remaining lying completely chocked, drastically reducing water carrying capacity. This in turn leads to backflow and flooding in catchment colonies,” he added
AAP said the Delhi High Court had appointed the Chief Secretary as the chairperson of the integrated drain management cell. “The High Court assigned the responsibility of verifying the claims of desilting through a third-party audit to the Chief Secretary. However, he ignored these directions,” a statement said. The party alleged that as the monsoon season is almost over, the L-G has come forward just to pay a “lip service” and engage in “dirty politics”.
“It would have been better had he taken action against the Chief Secretary and the PWD Secretary as well as any other officers involved in the wrongdoings. There is still time for the L-G to take action against Chief Secretary. Otherwise, everything else is just a photo opportunity and blatant politics,” the statement read.
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