Delhi floods: “Where did Rs 6,800 cr spent on cleaning Yamuna go?” Meenakashi Lekhi hits out at Kejriwal govt

New Delhi [India], July 16 (ANI): Asserting that the absence of “desilting” of Yamuna was the root cause of floods in Delhi, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Meenakashi Lekhi on Sunday lashed out at the Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP government asking where the Rs 6,800 crore spent on cleaning the river go.

The Union Minister was addressing a press briefing here, where she said that as the Yamuna flows from state to state in its long course, silt gradually gets accumulated in the river and the “desilting” process was not done, triggering floods in Delhi.

“On July 10, CM Kejriwal informed that 3,59,760 cusecs water has been discharged in Delhi. Moreover, in August 2019, 8,28,000 cusecs of water was discharged. Then how a flood like situation arouse this time, when lesser amount of water has been discharged as compared to 2019,” she said.

Union Minister Lekhi said that the Delhi was submerged in floods as the “desilting” or “dredging” of Yamuna river, necessary to increase the water holding capacity of river, was not done.

Last year, the Delhi’s Environment Department informed the Assembly that nearly Rs 6,856.91 crore was spent over five years, from 2017-21, to clean the Delhi stretch of river Yamuna.

“Flood Control’s budget of Rs 6,800 crore was spent in five years, then where this money was spent? It should be probed that what was done with these Rs 6,800 crores,” she added.

The Union Minister of State (MoS) for External Affairs also aimed at the Kejriwal government for not announcing compensation for the people, whose houses were damaged in the floods.

“More than 25,000 people have been displaced (due to floods), and BJP workers are making arrangements for them inside the relief camps. And a compensation order is not issued for those whose houses have been damaged,” she said.

However, the Yamuna water level is gradually receding with 205.75 metres recorded at Old Delhi Bridge at 3 pm on Sunday.

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.

“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?,” the Delhi BJP chief said.

Meanwhile the BJP national spokesperson RP Singh on Sunday came down heavily on the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) over the prevailing flood situation in the national capital, accusing the ruling party of trying to hide its failure in dealing with the water woes.

“They(AAP) are making such unfounded allegations against us in a desperate bid to hide their failure. They were supposed to clean the Yamuna but they did not. If they had ensured proper cleaning of the Yamuna on time, the situation in the national capital wouldn’t have come to this. They should talk about the scam that took place in the name of Yamuna cleaning,” the BJP leader said.

Singh was responding to Delhi Public Works Department (PWD) Minister Atishi accusing the Haryana government of deliberately releasing water from the Hathinikund barrage to flood the national capital. (ANI)