AAP blames Center over fund crunch

New Delhi: A day after rains caused waterlogging and traffic snarls across the capital, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) sought to shift the blame on the Center for not providing ample funds to Delhi to refurbish the storm water drainage system, sanitation and road construction. .

The AAP, which controls both the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and Delhi government, fielded mayor Shelly Oberoi and senior minister Saurabh Bharadwaj on Thursday to put up its defence. Oberoi said she had written to finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman right before she presented the Union budget on July 23 and sought ₹10,000 crore for Delhi. “We need this money for better infrastructure in the capital. We need ₹5,000 crore for sanitation, ₹3,000 crore for road construction and ₹2,000 crore for parks and greening.” Oberoi said Delhi had not got anything in the budget. “But this step motherly treatment is a regular feature. The people of Delhi pay the maximum taxes. We pay ₹25,000 crore in CGST (central goods and services tax)… You can see the monsoon season is on and it is essential to We need ₹5,000 crore for refurbishing the system.

Having wrested the MCD from the BJP with a decisive mandate in December 2024, the AAP is now directly responsible for the municipal and civic governance. However, a number of budget proposals, including refurbishing and cleanup of main and arterial roads, remain, according to people familiar with the matter. Delhi has not even tapped into central schemes, such as Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana and Swachh Bharat Mission, to get funds for specific projects, they said. Even as it sought to blame the Center for not giving funds, though, the MCD took steps to Address illegal encroachments and illegal use of basements. Oberoi said the municipal commissioner had given instructions to the staff to work roundtheclock in shifts to address the problem of waterlogging in the city.