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Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Virendra Sachdeva stated that the primary reason for the waterlogging problem that Delhi is currently facing is the corruption of the Delhi government's former Water Ministers, Saurabh Bhardwaj and Satyendar Jain, and their desire to extract financial benefits from every departmental work.
On Friday, Sachdeva said that the entire city is struggling with waterlogging, with places like Kirari, Sangam Vihar, and Burari permanently waterlogged. Even upscale areas like Rohini, Rajendra Nagar, Patel Nagar, and Kamla Nagar are severely affected, and near the Old Delhi Railway Station, the sewer barrel had collapsed, yet Water Board officials were unable to issue any orders for repairs or major cleaning work. "Current Water Board Minister Atishi has been busy blaming officials instead of taking action. She accused everyone, from the Lieutenant Governor to the Chief Secretary and the Water Board's executive engineers, of not doing work at the behest of the BJP leaders," he said. He further added that the Delhi BJP had been consistently exposing the failure of the Kejriwal government through protests over waterlogging and due to the mounting public pressure, Atishi had understood the situation by consulting with the officials. "The Chief Secretary and Water Board officials explained to the minister that on June 5, 2020, Satyendar Jain, and on July 21, 2023, former Water Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj, issued orders that no official could issue a work order worth even 100 rupees without the approval of the departmental minister, i.e., the Water Board Chairman. This led to a complete breakdown in the maintenance services of the Water Board for the past year," he said. "After the Chief Secretary exposed the orders of the then Water Board ministers, Saurabh Bhardwaj and Satyendar Jain, who encouraged corruption, a humiliated Atishi had to annul their orders on August 22, 2024," Sachdeva added. "This indicates that Minister Atishi, who annulled the orders of her predecessors, now knows that Saurabh Bhardwaj and Satyendar Jain's greed for corruption is responsible for the waterlogging disaster in Delhi and the nearly 35 deaths," He said. Sachdeva said that before July 2023, officers in various positions were authorised to carry out maintenance work up to certain amounts according to their capacity; however, for personal gain, Saurabh Bhardwaj, while serving as the Water Minister, issued an order on July 21, 2023, mandating that no officer could issue a single rupee work order without his approval. "As a result of this order, no departmental maintenance work was carried out this year, leading to Delhi being submerged in waterlogging," he said. Sachdeva further stated that Saurabh Bhardwaj is still a minister in Delhi, but after the annulment of his orders by Minister Atishi on August 22, he has no moral right to remain in office and therefore should resign immediately being responsible for the waterlogging in Delhi. (ANI)
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