New Delhi:

Delhi Lt Governor VK Saxena on Sunday directed the divisional commissioner to submit a report on the incident at a coaching centre in Rajinder Nagar where three civil service aspirants were killed due to rain-induced flooding in the basement.

He said the incident points to “criminal neglect” and lack of “basic maintenance” by concerned agencies.

Mr Saxena said he is deeply anguished by the incident of death of the civil services aspirants. “That this should happen in the Capital of India is most unfortunate & unacceptable,” he said in a post on X.

“Reportedly 7 other citizens have died due to electrocution in the past few days. My deepest condolences to the families of those who have lost their lives. You are in my thoughts and prayers,” he said.

Mr Saxena said he has been keeping a close watch over the situation and has monitored the rescue operations by Delhi Police and the fire department personally.

“These incidents clearly points towards criminal neglect & failure of basic maintenance & administration by concerned agencies & departments,” he said in another post.

“Drainage in the city and related infrastructure, as also required efforts and endeavours to address these have apparently collapsed, Mr Saxena said.

He added that the incident is indicative of the “larger malaise of misgovernance that Delhi has been subjected to during the last decade or so”.

The role of coaching institutions and landlords in not ensuring basic safety of students, who pay hefty fees and rents, away from their homes needs to be looked into, the LG said.

“What has been happening is unpardonable and such issues can no more be glossed over. I have asked the Divisional Commissioner to submit a report, covering every aspect of the tragic incident by Tuesday,” he adde

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena on Friday blamed the AAP dispensation’s “mismanagement” for the water crisis in the national capital and alleged that it has become the government’s habit to blame others for its “inefficiency”, “inability” and “inaction”.

In a video statement, Mr Saxena recited a 200-year-old couplet by Mirza Ghalib, ‘Umar bhar Ghalib yehi bhool karta raha dhool chehre par thi aur aaina saaf karta raha’, and slammed the government for blaming other states over the current situation.

He also alleged that despite “thousands of crores of rupees being spent by the Delhi government in the last 10 years, old pipelines could neither be repaired nor replaced”.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Somnath Bharti, who is also the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) vice-chairman, alleged this is “BJP made water crisis”.

“I am in a meditation camp but forced to resort to X to make aware one and all that as VC, @DelhiJalBoard I requested Honble @LtGovDelhi many a times to speak to and facilitate with BJP governments of UP and Haryana to barter 140 MGD treated affluent of Okhla STP with UP and 80 MGD treated affluent of Ruthala STPs with Haryana for equivalent raw water for our WTPs but Honble LG laughed it off. At present UP as well as Haryana rather than giving treated affluent for agricultural purposes give Ganga and Yamuna water to farmers. Farmers prefer treated affluent than raw water for better agricultural output. I say this with complete responsibility that HLG ignored all my requests and pushed Delhi to face this BJP made water crisis. I am all willing to debate with Honble LG if he disagrees,” he wrote on X.

Delhi is facing an acute water shortage, with the AAP government accusing Haryana of not releasing the national capital’s share of water.

The BJP, on the other hand, has blamed the AAP government for the water crisis and claimed that Haryana is supplying the city 1,049 cusecs of water from the Yamuna that exceeds the agreed-upon quantity.

“From the last few days, the extremely irresponsible attitude of Delhi government is being witnessed. Today in Delhi, women, children, elderly and young men are seen risking their lives and running after tankers for a bucket of water,” said Mr Saxena.

“Perhaps no one would have imagined that such heart-wrenching scenes would be seen in the country’s capital. But the government is blaming other states for its failures,” he added.

The water crisis has become too real to ignore in Delhi as people across areas are being seen scrambling with empty buckets to water tankers, some even jumping the queue to get to the top of them to fill their vessel.

“I regret to say that in the last 10 years, to hide its inefficiency, inaction and inability, it has become the habit of the Delhi government to blame others for its every failure and avoid their responsibilities and keep misleading the public through social media, press conferences and by filing court cases,” said Mr Saxena.

“This shortage of water in Delhi is solely the result of mismanagement by the government,” he added.

The Lt Governor said the chief minister’s “promise of 24-hour water supply in Delhi has so far proved to be an illusion” and asserted that Haryana and Uttar Pradesh are continuously giving their fixed quota of water to Delhi.

“Despite this, the biggest reason for the severe water shortage in Delhi today is that 54 per cent of the water being produced remains unaccounted for. Forty per cent of water is wasted during supply due to old and dilapidated pipelines,” he added.

Delhi Water Minister Atishi has alleged that Yamuna water level at Wazirabad has dropped from 674 feet to 670.3 feet and accused the BJP-led Haryana government of not releasing water.

However, Saxena said the Wazirabad treatment plant is not able to function at its full capacity because the reservoir of the barrage, where the water coming from Haryana is stored, is almost completely filled with silt.

“Due to this, the capacity of this reservoir, which used to be 250 million gallons, has reduced to only 16 million gallons. Till 2013, it was cleaned and desilted every year. But in the last 10 years, it was not cleaned even once and every year others were blamed for the lack of water. I myself had written a letter to the chief minister on this matter last year,” he recalled.

Despite thousands of crores of rupees being spent by the Delhi government in the last ten years, old pipelines could neither be repaired nor replaced, nor were adequate new pipelines laid, he added.

“The extent is such that this water is stolen and sold to the poor people by the tanker mafia,” said Mr Saxena.

“It is very unfortunate that while on one hand in the rich areas of Delhi, on an average, 550 litres of water is being supplied per person per day, on the other hand in villages and slums, only 15 litres of water is being supplied on average per person per day. I am told that even today, except Wazirabad, all the water treatment plants in Delhi are producing water more than their capacity,” he added.

The Delhi government has moved the Supreme Court to seek a direction to Haryana to supply more water to the crisis-hit national capital, sources said on Friday.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

A fresh chapter was written Wednesday in the persistent and bitter row between Delhi Lt Governor VK Saxena and the ruling AAP, after the former suspended and urged disciplinary proceedings against a senior member of Health Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj’s office. Dr RN Das, an Officer on Special Duty, has been called out over alleged “misconduct with regard to (an) unauthorised and illegal” nursing home.

Mr Saxena has claimed Dr Das – when he was Medical Superintendent of the Delhi government’s Nursing Home Cell – kept the Jyoti Clinic and Nursing Home running by delaying renewal of its licence post-2014.

The LG – who has had multiple fiery run-ins with the ruling AAP and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal – cited a civil complaint against the nursing home – that it has been running despite a license called in 2018.

Mr Saxena has alleged the nursing home’s management had applied for a new licence – these are issued in three-year blocks only – but this had been kept pending by Dr Das. “Unauthorised running of the nursing home is attributed to the collusion of above official… with management of nursing home…”

“In this matter an inquiry was conducted… which concluded Dr RN Das, then Medical Superintendent (of the Nursing Home Cell)… was solely responsible for renewal of registration. It has been alleged Dr Das… provided unlawful shelter by keeping the license pending unnecessarily,” he said.

An earlier initial anti-corruption inquiry had said there is enough evidence to warrant a full inquiry.

Dr Das was posted to the Nursing Home Cell from  2011 to  2015, and from 2018 to 2022. “Given the long tenure of Dr RN Das… the officer is clearly responsible for the alleged misconduct,” Dr Saxena claimed.

Action against Dr Das (and, by implication, the Delhi Health Ministry) comes as the LG and the AAP trade blows over a horrific fire Saturday at a private children’s hospital.

READ | Delhi LG Takes Swipe At Kejriwal, Orders Corruption Probe Into Hospital Fire

Seven infants were killed in that fire, triggering a massive row as rivals BJP try to score political brownie points with voters ahead of the final phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha election.

READ | Oxygen Cylinders Began To Explode: When Fire At Delhi Hospital Killed 7

The Delhi LG seemed to link the hospital fire and the alleged licensing failure, declaring “here also Dr Das had allowed registration of the children’s hospital without bothering to ascertain pending litigation and statutory compliance status, including fire safety”.

“… incidents point to the fact Dr RN Das has clearly abused his powers,” Dr Saxena declared.

On Tuesday the LG launched a front attack and declared himself “disappointed” Mr Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Mr Bhardwaj had “paid only lip service and given sound bites (to the press)… and shirked responsibility” since the gut-wrenching incident took place.

He said he had been compelled, “in public interest”, to order an anti-corruption probe into possible lapses in registration and regulatory management of Delhi’s private nursing homes.

The AAP has not yet responded, but Mr Bhardwaj has ordered a mandatory audit of safety equipment in city hospitals and the Delhi government has initiated a magistrate-level probe.

READ | After Delhi Hospital Tragedy, Minister’s Big Order On Fire Safety

In recent weeks Mr Saxena has also stepped into the Swati Maliwal row; he came out in support of Ms Maliwal, who has accused Mr Kejriwal’s aide of assault, and claimed himself “deeply distressed”.

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