Delhi flood: AAP smells conspiracy behind overflowing Yamuna, BJP retorts

NEW DELHI,JULY 15 : As the Yamuna began to recede gradually after touching a record high of 208.66 metres, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has alleged that a conspiracy was hatched to “drown” Delhi by releasing excess water from Hathnikund Barrage in Haryana towards the national capital.

Addressing a press conference, Delhi Irrigation and Flood Control Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj said the flood situation was a conspiracy to “drown” the city.

“Delhi is being deliberately drowned. Excess water from Hathnikund Barrage was sent only to Delhi. There was also a conspiracy to inundate all important institutions of Delhi, including the Supreme Court,” he said.

He claimed that excess water from the barrage was not being released towards the Western Canal in Haryana and the Eastern Canal in Uttar Pradesh.

Delhi flood catastrophe wrought by Haryana, alleges AAP; BJP hits back

Voicing his cabinet colleague’s similar sentiments, Delhi PWD minister Atishi questioned whether the flood situation in the city could have been avoided. She said the people will get relief from the overflowing Yamuna in the next 12 hours as the water level is receding slowly but gradually.

“Yamuna river water is receding. The people of Delhi will get relief in the next 12 hours… It is a big question why all the water from Hathnikund Barrage was released only to Delhi. Not a single drop of water was released into the canals going to Uttar Pradesh and Haryana from there. Haryana will have to answer for this. Can the flood situation in Delhi have been avoided?” she told news agency ANI.

AAP leader Somnath Bharti too called the Delhi flood a “BJP-made disaster”.

“The east and west canals of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana are completely dry. The water flow has been diverted towards Delhi purposely. The flood in Delhi is a BJP-made disaster,” he alleged.

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BJP HITS BACK

Hitting back, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva alleged the AAP government was “evading responsibility” and blaming other states for the flood-like situation in the city, as it did during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Speaking to news agency ANI, Haryana Agriculture Minister Jai Parkash Dalal voiced Sachdeva’s sentiments and said when the water is released, it first passes through Delhi, Agra and Allahabad, before it drains out into the ocean.

He said the root cause behind large parts of the city being submerged is illegal possessions and construction in the floodplains.

The raging Yamuna showed signs of calming on Saturday as the flow of the river at the Old Railway Bridge gradually receded. The river’s water level reached 207.48 metres at 10 am, just a notch below the 1978 record mark of 207.49 metres.

With the water level below the 208-mark threshold, the water from Yamuna has stopped gushing into the city. However, several areas continued to be waterlogged due to the stagnant flood water.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal appealed to the people to avoid playing in flood waters, saying it could be “fatal”.

The AAP supremo shared a video of a news agency in which children could be seen playing in flood waters in Delhi’s Shanti Van area as waterlogging continued in the area. He wrote, “I urge everyone to avoid this. It could be fatal.”

The floods in the national capital prompted the Delhi government to shut schools, colleges, crematoriums, and water treatment plants. The flood-like situation in Delhi has also inundated crematoriums near the Yamuna.

-PTI