Delhi Minister Gopal Rai Demands Action After Woman and Child Drown in Uncovered Drain
Delhi Environment Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Gopal Rai has criticized the Centre and called for action against Delhi Development Authority (DDA) workers after a tragic incident where a woman and her child drowned in an uncovered DDA drain.
Criticism of BJP
Gopal Rai highlighted the hypocrisy of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for politicizing other issues while remaining silent on this tragedy. He stated that the Lieutenant Governor (LG) must question the workers responsible for the accident.
Rai’s Statement
“It is unfortunate that BJP workers stay silent when a woman and her child die after falling into a DDA drain. Have the BJP leaders stopped protesting now? Have they gone blind?” said Gopal Rai during a press conference in Delhi.
Rai mentioned that BJP leaders were taken aback when they realized that the uncovered drain, where two people had died, was under the jurisdiction of the DDA rather than the Public Works Department (PWD).
Incident Details
The incident occurred on Wednesday in Ghazipur, near the Mayur Vihar area of East Delhi, following heavy rainfall. The deceased were identified as Tanuja (22) and her child, Priyansh (3), residents of Prakash Nagar Khoda Colony.
Legal Action
A plea has been filed in the Delhi High Court concerning the incident. The plea seeks accountability from the contractor responsible for the drain and requests a comprehensive audit of ongoing drain construction projects, including flood mitigation measures. The court is scheduled to hear the matter on August 5.
The plea further seeks directions to the respondents to frame and adopt policies to address and mitigate the flood-like situation in Delhi during rainfall and to cover all open drains in Delhi with immediate effect, along with proper signage educating the public to stay away from the drains.
Doubts Revealed
Gopal Rai -: Gopal Rai is a politician in Delhi, which is the capital city of India. He is responsible for looking after the environment in Delhi.
Centre -: In this context, ‘Centre’ refers to the central government of India, which is responsible for the entire country.
Delhi Development Authority (DDA) -: The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) is a government organization that plans and develops housing and infrastructure in Delhi.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) -: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is one of the major political parties in India. It is often referred to as the ruling party at the central level.
Lieutenant Governor -: The Lieutenant Governor is a high-ranking official who represents the central government in Delhi and has certain administrative powers.
Delhi High Court -: The Delhi High Court is a court in Delhi where people can go to seek justice and resolve legal issues.
