Asserting that the absence of “desilting” of the Yamuna was the root cause of floods in Delhi, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Meenakashi Lekhi on Sunday lashed out at the Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP government, asking where the Rs 6,800 crore was spent on cleaning the river.
The Union Minister was addressing a press briefing here, where she said that as the Yamuna flows from state to state in its long course, silt gradually gets accumulated in the river and the “desilting” process was not done, triggering floods in Delhi. “On July 10, CM Kejriwal informed that 3,59,760 cusecs of water had been discharged in Delhi. Moreover, in August 2019, 8,28,000 cusecs of water was discharged. Then how does a flood like situation arise this time when a lesser amount of water has been discharged as compared to 2019,” she said.
Union Minister Lekhi said that Delhi was submerged in floods as the “desilting” or “dredging” of the Yamuna river, necessary to increase the water holding capacity of the river, was not done.
Last year, Delhi’s Environment Department informed the Assembly that nearly Rs 6,856.91 crore was spent over five years, from 2017–21, to clean the Delhi stretch of the Yamuna.
“Flood Control’s budget of Rs 6,800 crore was spent in five years; where was this money spent? It should be probed as to what was done with these Rs 6,800 crores,” she added.
The Union Minister of State (MoS) for External Affairs also aimed at the Kejriwal government for not announcing compensation for the people, whose houses were damaged in the floods.
