'Saurabh Bhardwaj was advised to take responsibilities seriously', claim sources in L-G office

New Delhi, July 14 (IANS) Sources in Delhi Lieutenant Governor's office claimed on Friday that L-G V.K. Saxena had advised Delhi Minister for Irrigation and Flood Control, Saurabh Bhardwaj, to take his responsibilities seriously and refrain from acting in an immature, uninformed and politically motivated manner, especially at times of crisis such as the present flood situation in the national capital. 

The sources also claimed that the L-G had suggested Bhardwaj that he should also do good by not randomly and mischievously raking up the 'Ordinance' issue, as he has done in a tweet with the sole purpose of prejudicing the people.

The Irrigation and Flood Control Regulator (No.12 in front of WHO office) on Ring Road, which is meant to stop water from entering Drain No.12, had collapsed on Thursday evening and water from the already overflowing Yamuna river started to flow back into the city through the drain, inundating the Ring Road, IP Metro Station, IP Depot, ITO, and Vikas Marg and was fast leading up to the Mathura Road and the Supreme Court complex.

"This grave problem required urgent engineering solutions, the responsibility of which lies with the Irrigation and Flood Control (I&FC) Department and the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) under the Arvind Kejriwal government, and specifically the minister in charge, Saurabh Bhardwaj.

"I&FC and DJB have full-fledged engineering wings of their own having several officers from the level of chief engineer up to junior engineers. However, they could not carry out the necessary work despite a lapse of more than 12 hours," the sources in the L-G office said.

The sources also claimed that with the proactive intervention of the L-G, who was consistently in touch with Union Home Minister Amit Shah since early morning and with the consequent support from the Government of India, the engineering core of the Indian Army was deployed at the site. 

"It provided immediate and interim solution by stopping water from the river to flow into the drain, and by restoring the collapsed regulator. Work on the same started in the morning, and by the time the L-G, followed by the Chief Minister, reached the site, the back flow into the drain had been substantially stopped with the Army’s efforts," the sources claimed.

The sources also claimed that even as the L-G, the Chief Minister, Bhardwaj and AAP minister Atishi were addressing the media on site, Bhardwaj indulged in uncalled for behaviour by  claiming that “he had been calling the divisional commissioner since last night for NDRF to be deployed to address the repair and restoration of the collapsed regulator”, despite the fact that the actual position regarding this had been clarified to him by the divisional commissioner in front of the L-G and his colleague Atishi.

"It would be educative for Bhardwaj to know that the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) is mandated for carrying out relief and rescue operations during disasters, something that it has been doing in Delhi since the recent flooding started in the city. The NDRF is not responsible for carrying out regular engineering works.

"A simple reading of the NDRF’s template on its website will be sufficient to establish that what Bhardwaj was doing in the presence of the L-G, the Chief Minister, and the media, despite knowing the truth, was nothing but pointless politicking to score brownies, even during times of distress," the sources said.

The sources also claimed that to set the record straight, all employees and officers of Delhi government and Delhi Police along with NDRF teams have been working day and night to address the situation.

The said that Bhardwaj will recall that on the night of July 13, when water from Yamuna started inundating the Wazirabad WTP, the chief secretary, divisional commissioner and principal secretary were working on site till as late as 3:45 a.m.