The Hindu Bureau

New Delhi

Irrigation and Flood Control Minister Parvesh Sahib Singh on Wednesday said the Delhi government will formally ask Haryana to hand over control of the ITO barrage, which he termed “vital” to the Capital’s flood response.

The Minister cited the 2023 Delhi floods, which he said were worsened by the barrage’s “malfunctioning” gates, and stressed the need for the national capital to have “full authority to act swiftly during emergencies” .“I’ll take up this matter personally to ensure Delhi’s safety is not compromised,” Mr. Singh said.

In July 2023, Delhi was submerged by the most severe floods in its history, caused by rising waters in the Yamuna river .On Wednesday, Yamuna’s level in Delhi hovered just below the ‘warning mark’ of 204.5 metres. At 10 a.m., it was recorded at 204.13 metres. By 8 p.m., the level had receded slightly to 204.08 metres. According to an official, the “release of water from Hathnikund barrage in Haryana had decreased by evening, and the water level in Delhi is also expected to fall”.

Meanwhile, heavy rain in parts of the city in the morning caused widespread waterlogging and traffic disruptions. Affected areas included Greater Kailash, Pul Prahladpur, Zakhira underpass, Moti Nagar, Seelampur, Laxmi Nagar, G.T. Road, Mehrauli-Badarpur Road, and the DTC depot in Nand Nagri. Notably, no stagnant water was reported from the underpass in central Delhi’s Minto Bridge, a waterlogging hotspot.

AAP takes on govt.

AAP Delhi president Saurabh Bharadwaj posted a video on X, showing a woman rowing a boat on a flooded street, with the comment: “Free water sports offered by the four-engine government.”

“The government does not run this boat service, but we salute the special contribution of the BJP’s Delhi government,” he said, hitting out at the ruling party.

AAP also welcomed the announcement by Mr. Singh. “It is good to see better sense prevailing. The BJP can see the facts clearly,” it said. The party added that during 2023, when it was in power in Delhi, BJP-ruled Haryana “did not open the gates of the ITO barrage due to poor maintenance. That was the real cause of the flooding in Delhi”.

A day earlier, Education Minister Ashish Sood had, while referring to waterlogging incidents, alleged that “10 years of corruption by AAP, and 15 years of negligence by the Congress government earlier, have led to this situation in the national capital”.