Haryana govt was warned about the dysfunctional ito barrage gates last year aap

Haryana govt was warned about the dysfunctional ito barrage gates last year aap

The war of words over the flood in Delhi continued on Sunday, with the AAP government sharing a purported letter sent to the BJP-governed Haryana last year stating that the gates of the ITO Barrage maintained by the latter were not functioning.

The development comes even as Divisional Commissioner Ashwani Kumar said it was “unfortunate” that the AAP government had accused three Delhi government officials of being unresponsive. Mr. Kumar said levelling accusations in the present circumstances was not the right thing to do. The Divisional Commissioner said 66 senior IAS and DANICS officers had been deployed to assist the district administration in strengthening the relief operations in various parts of the city.

Senior BJP leader and Union Minister Meenakshi Lekhi on Sunday alleged that the flood situation in Delhi is the result of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s “negligence”.

Through its letter last year, the Delhi government had apprised the Haryana government that five of the 32 gates of the ITO Barrage on the Yamuna River in Delhi were jammed, the AAP said on Sunday.

Due to these jammed gates, the floodwater could not leave the city quickly, it added.

In response, Devender Singh, Advisor (Irrigation) to the Haryana Chief Minister, said the required number of gates were opened to the maximum limit for the safe discharge of the floodwater.

Water Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj demanded that the ownership of the barrage be transferred to the Delhi government.

Meanwhile, the BJP alleged that a meeting of the Apex Committee on flood control, which needs to be convened by June every year, was not held over the past two years.

Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva said, “That the Apex Committee meeting was not held over the last two years is proof of how careless the Kejriwal government has been regarding the flood situation in the Capital.”

Responding to the allegation, the Delhi government said it had regularly reviewed the flood and waterlogging issues in May.