Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva alleged on Thursday that over the past two to three years, Delhi’s sewer system and storm water drainage have completely collapsed which points to a scam related to the desilting of drains.

He said a CBI investigation is necessary in the matter as the corruption under the Delhi government has culminated in the Rajendra Nagar incident in which lives of three UPSC aspirants were cut short.

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Addressing a press conference here, Sachdeva lamented that even light rain causes waterlogging on Delhi’s roads.

Media chief of the saffron party’s Delhi unit Praveen Shankar Kapoor, who organized the press conference, said it won’t be an exaggeration to say the state government has crossed all limits of corruption, and the newly-emerged desilting scam would be the final nail in the coffin for this government.

Sachdeva further claimed that since 1998 the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has not been in power in Delhi, but the party was dedicated to public service through the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, ensuring thorough cleaning of small drains and colony sewers. However, in the past two years, waterlogging has been observed on both main roads and colony streets alike, he alleged.

The Delhi BJP chief said to study the issue, the party formed an internal committee comprising MLA Mohan Singh Bisht, Leader of the Opposition in the Delhi Municipal Corporation Sardar Raja Iqbal Singh, senior municipal councilor Sandeep Kapoor, and spokesperson and media head Praveen Shankar Kapoor.

The committee was tasked with investigating the reasons for the increased waterlogging over the past two years, Sachdeva added.

He said Delhi BJP’s internal committee had warned around June 20, 2024, that the desilting of drains and sewers was not being carried out by any relevant department of the Delhi government or the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, and accordingly the party had alerted the Delhi government through a press conference that no preparations were being made for the monsoon, but the government did not take notice, Sachdeva claimed.

The first monsoon rain on June 28, 2024, exposed the false claims of the Delhi government, the BJP leader alleged.

The Delhi BJP chief further said that the Irrigation Department, Public Works Department, Delhi Jal Board, and Municipal Corporation of Delhi are responsible for the desilting of drains and sewers. However, none of the departments disposed of even a single truck of silt at the designated Singhola Khampur site or any other landfill site, indicating that no cleaning has taken place during the mentioned period, Sachdeva claimed.

He called it a clear scam worth hundreds of crores of rupees has occurred in the desilting of drains in Delhi. The chief minister, ministers, MLAs, contractors, and some lower-level officials of the Delhi government are all involved, and a CBI investigation is necessary. This corruption has culminated in the Rajendra Nagar incident, he added.