West Delhi residents living life 'worse than hell' due to govt 'neglect', alleges L-G

New Delhi: Lt Governor VK Saxena on Thursday claimed the "neglect and apathy" of the Delhi government forced residents of the city's western parts to live a life "worse than hell".

While reacting to this, AAP alleged that the L-G has consistently created obstacles in the functioning of the elected government resulting in avoidable delays. His only role in Delhi has been to sabotage the works undertaken by the AAP government for the residents.

In a post on X, the L-G, after an inspection of west Delhi, said in Hindi that the people of these areas had been expressing their pain and anger on social media for several years.

Saxena also said he wanted to draw the attention of the chief minister and requested them to pay attention to these problems.

"Due to government neglect and the associated administrative apathy, lakhs of people in west Delhi are forced to live a life worse than hell," Saxena said in Hindi.

"Vanished roads submerged in two-feet-deep potholes and sewer water, overflowing drains filled with silt due to lack of cleaning for years, knee-deep stinking water mixed with sewer, rotting garbage, backflowing sewer lines, hundreds of helpless people expressing their emotions and anger amidst poisonous insects and mosquitoes," he added.

He said these conditions were seen during an inspection of Mundka, Nangloi, Ranikheda, Ranhola, Karala, Kanjhawala and Rohtak Road areas.

The failure of transferred subjects such as the public works and the irrigation and flood control departments, Municipal Corporation of Delhi, Delhi Jal Board and the Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation is unforgivable, he said.

Saxena said the most affected sections of this mismanagement in the national capital were poor daily-wage labourers, street vendors, women, elderly and children.

At various places during the inspection, locals, children returning from school, and the elderly shared their helplessness. The roads in this area were mostly broken and there were no streetlights, he said.

Vehicles, including buses and two-wheelers, were facing severe difficulties even to travel some distance. As a result of years of neglect, the industrial areas of the vicinity have turned into dumping grounds for municipal waste and dangerous water-filled pits, Saxena alleged.

"Following repeated requests from residents of the area, civil organisations, MP and councillor, after inspection with officials of the departments concerned on Wednesday, they were asked to provide immediate relief," he said.

Saxena said he had drawn the attention of the chief minister several times before, especially after visiting Sangam Vihar, Kalandar Colony, Kiradi and Burari, to the dire condition of the people and its solution.

He further stated that after Wednesday's inspection, repair work had been going on since late night.

"I once again draw the attention of the chief minister and chief minister-designate to this and request them to pay immediate attention to this," he added.

"If not for the constant disruptions caused by the LG either directly or through the officers, the desilting and sewerage work, throughout Delhi would have been completed before the onset of monsoons in Delhi," the AAP said in a statement.

Be that as it may, the AAP government will ensure that no work shall suffer and the sewerage or desilting work in West Delhi, which is ongoing, shall also be completed soon, the party said.