NEW DELHI: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesday lashed out at the BJP government in Delhi over waterlogging in the city , sarcastically calling it a “marvel” of the four-engine model. The AAP leaders shared videos of waterlogged locations, from the Zakhira underpass to Connaught Place, from Safdarjung Hospital to LNJP Hospital across the national capital to question the BJP dispensation over the state of affairs.
Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Tuesday visited ITO crossing in central Delhi and conducted an inspection after waterlogging was reported in the area. Gupta said that her government has sought a detailed report on every spot. Mayor Raja Iqbal Singh hit out at the AAP and said that the waterlogging situation wouldn’t have risen had they worked sincerely. He alleged that the AAP did no real work when it was in power and only indulged in corruption. After heavy rains battered Delhi on Tuesday, visuals from various parts of the city showed long lines of vehicles stuck on waterlogged roads. Highlighting severe waterlogging in Connaught Place after just 10 minutes of rain, AAP supremo and former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal questioned the effectiveness of the “four-engine” government. “When this is the condition of Connaught Place, the heart of Delhi, it’s not hard to imagine the state of the rest of the city. Just 10 minutes of rain has turned the roads into ponds. In just 5 months, where has the BJP brought Delhi to? Is this the speed of the so-called ‘4-engine’ government?” said Kejriwal in a post on X, sharing a video of Connaught Place. Former chief minister Atishi posed questions to her successor, Rekha Gupta, and public works department (PWD) minister Parvesh Singh Verma over the waterlogged streets. Sharing a video of vehicles moving through the waterlogged Outer Circle of Connaught Place, she said in a post in Hindi on X: “The streets of Delhi’s Connaught Place have turned into ponds. 10 minutes of rain and this is Delhi’s condition. This is the marvel of the BJP’s 4-engine government. Where is PWD Minister @p_sahibsingh ji? What is Chief Minister @gupta_rekha ji doing?” Atishi shared another video on X in which people were seen walking through knee-deep water on the premises of the Delhi government-run LNJP Hospital. “Water, water everywhere in Delhi government’s LNJP Hospital. 10 minutes of rain and this is Delhi’s condition,” she said. AAP’s Delhi unit chief Saurabh Bharadwaj questioned the lieutenant governor over a wall-collapse incident near the Raj Niwas that left a mother-son duo dead. “Two dead, several injured, Delhi remembers how, until a few months ago, LG sahab used to go to every corner of Delhi to find faults in the government, making videos, tweeting, writing letters. Today, a wall collapsed in front of his Raj Bhavan, two people died, many are injured. But LG sahab has not even gone to meet them yet. No tweet, no photo, no letter. Has the concern for Delhi ended now?” he asked in a post in Hindi on X. Bharadwaj shared a video of an inundated ITO and said, “This is Delhi’s ITO. On July 9, LG sahab and PWD Minister Parvesh Verma had come here to inspect the work to clear waterlogging, congratulating each other for the good work. Today, with waterlogging again, please accept my congratulations as well.” He also shared a video of the Centre-run Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital, where people were seen wading their way through knee-deep water. “The prestigious hospital of the Central government in Delhi, RML Hospital. The government has been at the Centre for 11 years, the entire area belongs to the Centre. Need more time? What will you say now?” he asked. Attacking the city government over waterlogging, senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia told a press conference, “Within four months of their rule, the BJP government has made people cry from private schools fees, electricity bills to waterlogging. How will cleaning be done when you will do corruption in the cleaning equipment and salary of sweepers?” AAP MLA Punardeep Singh Sawhney echoed similar sentiments and shared a video of north delhi’s Civil Lines area, where both lanes of a road stretch were flooded. “Delhi’s Chief Minister @gupta_rekha ji and the LG’s house are a 5-minute walk from here, perhaps they like a Venice-like view, which is why arrangements have been made for rainwater to keep pooling here. Heartfelt thanks to Rekha Gupta ji for turning my constituency into a Venice-like lake!” Sawhney said in a post on X in Hindi. The AAP shared a video on X of a man lugging his motorcycle through a waterogged Zakhira underpass. “PWD Minister @p_sahibsingh ji, you were saying that your government has made proper arrangements to deal with waterlogging, so what is this?” the party asked in a post in Hindi. When the AAP was in power, the BJP often slammed it over waterlogging and accused it of failing to de-silt drains. The chief minister said that water was pumped out within 30 minutes to 45 minutes from the area. “All our teams are alert and officials are taking stock of waterlogging. There were places where water accumulated, but it was drained out timely. I have spoken to local here at ITO and they said that the water receded within half an hour to 45 minutes,” she told reporters.
