Due to heavy rains, the national capital Delhi has been battling a flood threat which has led to a political ruckus and verbal spats between the leaders of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi and Punjab, which are ruled by the BJP, the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) respectively. Similar to Delhi, the situation in Haryana and Himachal is also extremely alarming and heavy rainfall has affected normal life to a large extent. The four states have engaged in a political slugfest ever since the country’s capital was submerged in stormwater.
The AAP-led Delhi government has blamed its neighbouring state of Haryana for the flood-like situation it is facing, accusing the BJP-ruled state government of releasing excessive water from the Hathinikund Barrage located in Yamunanagar. The Delhi government has said the that excessive amount of water released from the Barrage added to the flood situation that the Union Territory was already facing. It is pertinent to mention that most parts of Delhi adjacent to the Yamuna River have gone several feet underwater and the situation is very worrying. Holding Haryana responsible for this, the Delhi Government wrote a letter to the Central Government.
The Haryana government has outright rejected these allegations, with Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar hitting back and saying “The flooding is a natural disaster; it is unethical to do politics even in such a time.” He said that the water level in the rivers increased due to heavy rains and the rapid flow of runoff from hill states. According to Khattar, the Yamuna River had recorded one lakh cusecs of water on the first day, but on the very next day, it increased to 3.70 lakh cusecs. “As far as the issue of the release of water is concerned, we have informed Delhi’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal that Hathnikund is a barrage and not a dam.