Delhi government blames MCDs for ‘sanitation’

The Aam Aadmi Party legislators on Tuesday blamed the Municipal Corporation of Delhi for poor sanitation in the city. During the Delhi Assembly session, the AAP legislators also demanded that the mayors of the three corporations be summoned by the House on the issue. Health minister Satyendar Jain said vector borne diseases such as chikungunya are spreading faster due to the MCD’s negligence.

The Delhi Assembly on Tuesday held a short discussion on the danger of an epidemic in the national capital due to poor sanitation and cleanliness by the MCD. Mr Jain blamed the rampant corruption in the Corporation for poor cleanliness. Pointing towards the BJP legislators, Mr Jain said that those who used to commute on bicycles are now travelling in cars and due to corruption; the city is facing the issue of poor cleanliness. “Delhi government’s health department is capable of fighting all types of diseases and the provisions have been made to do so. However, the prime reason behind the outbreak of diseases is poor hygiene and sanitation facilities,” he said. AAP legislator Jagdeep Singh alleged that despite the allocation of budget for cleanliness to the MCD by the Delhi government, the civic body is not doing its work properly. He said that the city faces the perennial problem of water logging, as the drains are not de-silted before the monsoon season. He held the BJP responsible for the city’s poor sanitation conditions. AAP MLA from Okhla, Amanatullah Khan, pointed at the step-motherly treatment meted out to Shaheen Bagh area in his Assembly constituency, which he said only has six sanitation workers.