AAP Vs BJP Over Delhi Floods, Saffron Party Terms Claims Untrue

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has alleged BJP of “intentionally” diverting water from Haryana towards flood-hit Delhi through Hathnikund Barrage.

BJP has hit back at AAP saying the party’s claims were 'misleading' and that water with a flow of over 1 lakh cusecs cannot be discharged into other sides, said PTI report.

Taking to Twitter, the Department of Information and Public Relations, said that as per Central Water Commission (CWC) guidelines, water with a flow of over 1 lakh cusecs cannot be discharged into Western Yamuna and Eastern Yamuna Canal.

"Retired IAS and Advisor (Irrigation) to Chief Minister of Haryana Devendra Singh said that as per CWC guidelines, if the water flow in Hathini Kund barrage is more than 1 lakh cusecs, the water will flow into Western Yamuna and Eastern Yamuna Canal due to large boulders cannot be discharged," DIPR Haryana said in a series of tweets.

"This may damage the barrage structures, so the head regulator gates of the canals are closed and the cross regulator gates at the barrage are opened for free flow of water into Yamuna river," DIPR said.

Without taking any name, DIPR further said, "Leaders of a political party today alleged through a video on social media that water is being released from Hathini Kund Barrage into the Yamuna River by not releasing water into the Western Yamuna Canal and Eastern Yamuna Canal, causing floods in Delhi."

"He (Devendra Singh) said that there is nothing unusual in this case also and unnecessary controversy is being created by the Delhi government to hide its negligence/inefficiency in the matter of flood preparedness," DIPR Haryana added.

Earlier in the day, addressing a press conference, senior AAP leader and Rajya Sabha MP, Sanjay Singh, and AAP chief spokesperson, Priyanka Kakkar, said, "In case of a flood, water is released from Hathni Kund towards Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi in balanced quantities. But from July 9 to 13, all the water was released towards Delhi. Had water been released equally towards all the three states, the areas of Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh adjacent to the Yamuna would have been safe."

Sanjay Singh listed out the five states that are the most affected by the floods in the country and pointed out how Delhi is included in this list despite there being no rainfall in the last three days.

"There are five states within the country, that are facing the brunt of natural calamity at the moment - Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi. If we speak only about Delhi, everyone here will be aware that it hasn't rained in the city in the last three days. Then why is it still that the water level of the Yamuna has constantly been on the rise and has gone on to flood parts of the city that are in the low-lying region?" he questioned.

Further providing details Singh said that the water from the Hathnikund barrage was intentionally only being sent to Delhi to flood parts of the city.

"At the Hathnikund barrage, there are three different routes that the flow of water takes. One stream brings the water into Delhi, another takes it to Uttar Pradesh, and the final stream takes the water into Haryana. Ideally, in a flood such as this one, it would have been ideal if the water pressure was equally distributed into the three canals. But the BJP conspired to send all of the water into the stream that forms the Yamuna River and enters Delhi," he alleged.