New Delhi: The blame game over the Yamuna flooding in the national capital took centrestage, a day after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena issued a joint statement stressing 'teamwork', with Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj on Saturday alleging that the BJP-ruled Centre and the Haryana government had conspired to throw the national capital into a flood crisis.
Coming down heavily at the BJP at a press conference on Saturday, the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader said, "Delhi received 153 mm of rainfall on July 8, which was a record in two decades. It rained moderately in the evening on July 9, but thereafter, the city exprienced no further rainfall. So, the big question is — if there was not a drop of rain in Delhi since July 9, how did the national capital come to be flooded like this?"
"The answer, as is now evident, is that the BJP-led central government and the Haryana government, where too, the BJP is ruling party, conspired to push Delhi into a flood crisis," Bharadwaj claimed.
The remark appeared to be in conflict with the show of unity by the L-G and the Delhi CM at the joint press conference on Friday, with the former saying, "We need to work as a team".
“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 is not what we should do at this time," the L-G added.
CM Kejriwal said people, who have been grappling with flooding woes over the last couple of days, will get a measure of respite soon, as the rising waters of the Yamuna was receding slowly but surely.
“...water flooded different areas due to many reasons. Here, the flooding took place because of a breach (of drain regulator) while at Raj Ghat, it was a caused due to backflow of water from a drain. Several other places were flooded due to the backflow of the Yamuna waters. However, the people will get some respite soon as the Yamuna waters have started receding," the CM said.
However, at the press conference on Saturday, Bharadwaj said, "The danger mark of the Yamuna is at 205.33 metres. Till yesterday, it was flowing at 208.6 metres. As is recorded in history, Delhi witnessed a catastrophic flood in July 1998, when the Yamuna flowed at 207.49 metres. The level currently is even higher. The reason for the prevailing situation in the Capital is that the regulator of the Hathni Kund barrage is based in Haryana's Yamunanagar, which is located 228 kms away from Delhi."
"We sent our team over there as we learned that water was being released deliberately towards Delhi," Bharadwaj added.
Further, hitting out at the BJP, he said, "From July 9 to 13, water was deliberately released towards Delhi as part of a conspiracy. The report of the Central Water Commission, dated July 12 and 13, that we received from the Hathni Kund Barrage, says that the water was not released into the eastern cannal, towards Uttar Pradesh."
"Last year, in August, water was not only released towards Delhi but the eastern and western canals as well. The flow was evenly distributed between multiple states because of which there was no flood in Delhi," he added.
The AAP minister said, "False statements are being made that water cannot be release into the eastern canal as it is very small. Now, after the AAP highlighted this issue in the media, the water is now being released into the eastern canal as well."
Earlier, Union Minister Nityanand Rai, while stressing the need for all stakeholders to set aside their differences and come together in the interest of putting Delhi out of its misery, said, "They (AAP) are resorting to the politics of lies. It is what the party was founded on. It is in their culture." (ANI)
