Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj and Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena were seen having an argument while they were taking stock of the situation in the flooded ITO area of the national capital. As the rising water in the Yanuma river caused waterlogging in the bustling ITO area, which serves as one of the busiest traffic intersections, Delhi Health Minister and Delhi Jal Board Chairman Saurabh Bharadwaj alleged that he had called the Chief Secretary last night requesting the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) assistance but the call for help was ignored.
Flanked by CM Kejriwal, ministers Atishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj, L-G Saxena on Friday inspected a flooded stretch near Vikas Bhawan, ITO where a drain regulator was damaged.
The argument between Saurabh Bharadwaj and Lieutenant Governor happened during a press conference. Saurabh Bharadwaj interrupted VK Saxena when he was speaking about how NDRF teams and government departments were involved in the assistance.
Saurabh Bharadwaj told VK Saxena that bureaucrats were not following orders even during the emergency situation. He said the situation would have been better had the NDRF reached the spot last night itself.
In a tweet, Saurabh Bharadwaj later wrote: Yesterday was an emergency situation that is why I texted Ashwini ji (the Divisional Commissioner) at 11:09 for NDRF assistance but no assistance was not given. This situation wouldn’t have arisen if NDRF had provided some assistance.”
In another tweet, the Delhi minister said, “…if some IAS will ignore the words of their minister even in such an emergency, then how will the government work? Ashwani Kumar ji is the Divisional Commissioner, but NDRF was not called at night even after repeated requests from the minister. Will you do anything arbitrarily because of the ordinance?”
Responding to the allegations, L-G Saxena said, “I would like to tell you that this is not the time to resport to a blame game or point fingers at each other. Right now, we need to work as a team. I, too, can say a lot of things but this isn’t what we should do at this time.”
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Updated: 14 Jul 2023, 07:32 PM IST