The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Sunday targeted the BJP government in Delhi, alleging that relief camps set up for people displaced by Yamuna’s flooding of low-lying areas lacked basic facilities. The party also questioned why advance preparations had not been made.
The BJP, in response, accused AAP leaders of playing “dirty politics” instead of assisting people in need.
In a post on X, AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal said, "It feels as if there is no government in Delhi. The people of Delhi are in deep distress."
Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, Atishi, urged BJP ministers to personally visit the camps, witness the “suffering” of residents, and extend immediate relief.
Highlighting the difficulties faced by citizens this monsoon, Atishi remarked, "This year, the people of Delhi have suffered immensely. Every day it rained, Delhi turned into a lake. Whether you go to Shalimar Bagh, Rajouri Garden, Tilak Nagar, Patparganj, Tughlakabad, Greater Kailash or Connaught Place, waterlogging was everywhere."
She further asked Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, "I want to ask Delhi CM Rekha Gupta, when people are facing so much trouble, what have you done to save them from this suffering? What preparations did you make before the monsoon?”
Delhi is reeling under a flood-like situation with the Yamuna rising to the season's highest of 207.48 metres. While the river level has been receding, it is still flowing above the danger mark of 205.33 metres.
Recalling the previous AAP government's approach, the former chief minister said, "When the Aam Aadmi Party was in power, preparations for the monsoon used to begin three months in advance. Three months before the first rain, all departments like PWD, MCD and DDA were called, and preparation meetings were held."
"I know stopping waterlogging in Delhi is not an easy task. So many people live here, so many colonies, so many different agencies. But if we want to prevent waterlogging, we have to prepare in advance. Wherever an MCD drain meets a PWD drain, desilting had to be supervised on the spot," she said.
Atishi asked CM Gupta to visit the relief camps and see the situation herself. "These camps have been set up five kilometres from people's homes, at locations where people are unwilling to go. There are no fans, and many camps don't have electricity. There is no food, the toilets are dirty, and there is no water supply in the toilets.
"If you visit these camps, you will hear only one thing -- nobody has come to see us. If anyone has come, it is an AAP MLA or an AAP councillor," she claimed.
Hitting back, Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva said, while all of Punjab is flood-hit and residents on Delhi's Yamuna riverbanks are in distress, Kejriwal and Atishi are engaging in "cheap political tweeting" instead of helping the public.
Their statements have left the people of Punjab, Delhi, and the entire nation stunned, he said.
Sachdeva alleged that Kejriwal has left the people of Punjab to suffer, while he himself is busy "indulging in political propaganda" in Gujarat. "Just like Kejriwal, Delhi's Leader of Opposition Atishi is busy making statements instead of coordinating relief efforts. The people of Delhi will never forgive her," he said in a statement.
With inputs from PTI
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