"Will you do anything arbitrarily because of the ordinance?" Saurabh Bharadwaj tweeted.
Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj and Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena today had an on-camera argument on the flooding of Delhi's busiest traffic intersection, for which the Army and disaster response force personnel had to be roped in. Mr Bhardwaj, Delhi Health Minister and Delhi Jal Board Chairman, told the Centre-appointed LG that bureaucrats aren't following orders even during such an emergency situation.
Interrupting VK Saxena during his press address, Mr Bhardwaj, who was standing next to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, said he requested the Chief Secretary last night itself to call the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) for assistance in repairing the damaged drain regulator that has caused flooding in the ITO area, but they ignored it.
"We wrote to the Chief Secretary on the WhatsApp group to call the NDRF, else flood water may enter sensitive areas of Delhi. We also asked the District Magistrate. But, last night, our messages were ignored," he said, adding, what will be the attitude if the ordinance is implemented.
He later tweeted naming the Divisional Commissioner, claiming "repeated requests" were ignored.
"Because some media friends are asking - if some IAS will ignore the words of their minister even in such an emergency, then how will the government work? Ashwani Kumar ji is the Divisional Commissioner, but NDRF was not called at night even after repeated requests from the minister. Will you do anything arbitrarily because of the ordinance?" he tweeted in Hindi.
VK Saxena responded, calling for teamwork. He said it wasn't the time to blame anyone.
"I would like to tell you that this is not the time to blame someone or make comments. Right now, we need to do teamwork. I too can say a lot of things, but this is not needed right now," he said.
Earlier, Mr Kejriwal, who visited the flooded spot which connects key parts of Delhi, also said the situation could have been avoided had a team of the NDRF been present at the spot last night itself, as his government requested the Lieutenant Governor earlier. He reiterated that the Army has been roped in to help resolve the situation.
The LG said the focus should be on solving the crisis, and it wasn't a time to point fingers.
Arvind Kejriwal in a tweet earlier today confirmed that the breach in the drain regulator is the cause of the flooding in the area, and that he has directed officials to seek the help of the Army and disaster relief force to fix it urgently. They are now working together to resolve the issue. Mr Kejriwal said it should be fixed within four hours.
The Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi government and the LG have long been at each other's throats over distribution of power in the governance of the national capital. The former has accused Mr Saxena of acting on instructions from the BJP to hinder development work in Delhi, most recently pointing to the Centre's controversial ordinance which upturned a Supreme Court judgement granting greater control to the Delhi government over its bureaucrats.