Manish Sisodia inaugurated the project to lay sewer lines in five slum or Jhuggi colonies in Delhi.
In a first, the Delhi government on Monday started laying sewer lines in five
jhuggi or slum colonies. Opposition leaders however termed the move political one that comes just a few months ahead of the municipal polls.
Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and Water Minister Kapil Mishra inaugurated the project at the former's Patparganj constituency here and claimed that people had decided to use mohalla sabha funds to execute it.
The government has also decided to allocate Rs 350 crore as Swaraj Fund in the next Budget, although it has not been able to use an equal amount under the same head as the proposal to constitute mohalla sabhas still awaits the Lt Governor's approval.
"Congress has always done politics in the name of jhuggis. But it has never laid sewer lines in any jhuggi colony. Today, for the first time work has started to lay pipeline in a jhuggi colony in Delhi. Interestingly, the decision to use mohalla sabha funds in this regard was taken by the jhuggi dwellers in a mohalla sabha," Mr Sisodia said.
The five colonies that have been chosen are Jawahar Mohalla, Shastri Mohalla, Mahatma Gandhi Camp, Khokha Patri Camp and Ram Prasad Bismil Camp.
Leader of the Opposition Vijender Gupta alleged that Mr Sisodia "cunningly attributed" the laying of sewer lines in the five JJ Clusters to "non-existing mohalla sabha fund" keeping the "MCD polls in mind".
"The government provided Rs 350 crore for use by the mohalla sabhas under the Citizen Local Area Development fund (CLADS). But it failed to provide concrete shape to the scheme. But sensing adverse public sentiments, it has linked normal work to the scheme," Mr Gupta said.