In a strongly worded letter, senior AAP leader and Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Delhi Assembly Atishi charged the BJP’s “four-engine” government in Delhi with gross negligence in monsoon preparedness, holding PWD Minister Parvesh Verma directly responsible for the death of a biker after a tree fell on Hansraj Sethi Marg during the rains.
Calling it a “preventable tragedy” stemming from lack of foresight, infrastructure readiness, and decisive governance, Atishi has demanded Verma’s immediate removal, stating that the Public Works Department (PWD) has failed in its most basic duty to safeguard lives in the national capital.
In her letter, Delhi Assembly LoP Atishi stated, “Today morning a young man lost his life on Hansraj Sethi Marg, when a tree collapsed and crushed him due to heavy rains in the national capital. A girl has also been critically injured in the incident and is fighting for her life. This is not an ‘act of nature’ — it is the result of the absolute lack of monsoon-related preparedness by your administration.”
Noting multiple incidents of administrative negligence, she wrote, “This incident is not isolated. It is very shameful to note that after your government has taken over, many people have lost their lives in the national capital due to rains. Last Saturday (on August 9th), on the occasion of Rakshabandhan when the entire country was celebrating the spirit of the festival, two separate tragedies rocked the city. In one incident a small two-and-a-half-year-old toddler was drowned to death in an open sewer in Khera Khurd on Furni Road due to rains. In another incident on the same day, at least eight people including two young children died when a portion of a wall collapsed in a Jaitpur area.”
“On July 30th, it was reported that a woman and her son were killed while two labourers were injured when a portion of a boundary wall collapsed in North Delhi’s Sehgal Colony near LG Secretariat. On May 22nd, it was reported that at least two people, including a person with disabilities, were killed and 11 others injured after a storm and rain hit the national capital,” she added.
Atishi added that these were only the cases reported in the media, with many more people having lost their lives in this year’s rains. “Each a preventable tragedy had there been foresight, infrastructure readiness, and decisive governance. Instead, Delhi’s citizens are forced to wade through waterlogged streets, navigate collapsing trees, and live in constant fear during every spell of rain.”
“The Public Works Department, entrusted with maintaining our city’s safety and infrastructure, has failed its most basic duty. The PWD Minister Parvesh Verma must take moral responsibility and be removed from your Cabinet immediately. Nothing short of this will restore even a shred of public faith. The entire city is looking towards you to take action against those responsible for these deaths,” concluded Atishi.
