Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has stated that he was personally monitoring the work to clear water logging from capital roads that resulted in the death of at least one person, allegedly due to drowning at the Minto road overbridge Sunday morning. Kejriwal said that the civic agencies were busy fighting coronavirus this year and therefore it was not the time for blame game over the issue.

“Road under the Minto bridge has been cleared of water logging. I was in contact with agencies since morning and was monitoring the process of removing water. We are keeping an eye on more such places in Delhi. Wherever there is water logging, it is being pumped out immediately,” Kejriwal tweeted.

Earlier this morning, the body of a 60-year-old man was found floating under the Minto bridge around 10 am. Police said the man could have drowned while trying to take his tempo through the water logged underpass.

Kundan’s body was discovered by a trackman working at New Delhi railway station yard, who fished it out.

Delhi fire service officials quoted by the news agency claimed they had saved 10 lives this morning from water logging while responding to distress calls.

“Three people were saved in the ITO area, six people were saved near Zakhira Flyover and one person was saved at Lawrence Road,” ANI quoted Delhi fire service as saying.

Kundan’s death had earlier raised questions if civic bodies had done enough work to prevent occurrence of such events. North Delhi mayor Jai Prakash had attacked the Delhi government on the issue.

“Such incidents will continue to occur until the Delhi government gets rid of its irresponsible attitude,” ANI quoted him as saying. He added that the government should ensure that such incidents don’t happen again.

Aam Aadmi Party leader Sanjay Singh later said that the MCD had the largest responsibility for clearing the drains. MCD is controlled by the BJP.

“Three agencies– MCD, PWD and Jal Board—are responsible for clearing drains. The biggest share of responsibility among these lies with the MCD. Nobody had any idea that it would rain so much suddenly. Mistakes should be rectified. This time is not a blame game,” Sanjay Singh said.

Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, too, reacted little later and said that all agencies including the PWD (public works department), Delhi jal board (DJB), Delhi Municipal Corporation (MCD) and the flood department were working to deal with the problem.

“Some part of our management was busy with Coved 19 but we are doing the needful. CM Arvind Kejriwal is monitoring the situation personally,” he was quoted as saying.

Kejriwal, too, claimed that preoccupation with battling coronavirus could have left some gaps in preparation for the Monsoon rains.

“This year all the agencies, whether under Delhi government or MCD, were busy with Coronavirus containment. They have faced several difficulties due to the Corona crisis. This is not the time for a blame game. All have to come together and act responsibly. We will try to clear up all areas that report water logging,” he tweeted.

Three people had to be rescued by the fire service department after it received an SOS call about a DTC bus and two autorickshaws being submerged in the water-logged Minto road underpass this morning.

Overnight rains led to water logging at several stretches including Azadpur underpass, South Avenue road, Pul Prahladpur underpass, Paharganj side of New Delhi railway station, Moolchand underpass and near Batra Hospital, among others.