Sood blames AAP for waterlogging in six Delhi govt schools

As six schools in the national capital’s Nithari are affected by water-logging issues, Delhi Education Minister Ashish Sood on Thursday blamed the previous AAP regime for the situation, accusing it of negligence.

Responding to a social media post by former CM Arvind Kejriwal on the deteriorating condition of Delhi, he said it is due to the poor urban planning by the AAP government water is accumulating in these schools.

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Sood remarked that the previous government, which once claimed to lead an “education revolution” and called its leader a “man of development”, had left Delhi in a state of ruin. And now, after just five and a half months,they expect everything to change magically overnight.

“Our children are suffering because of their misdeeds. In Nithari, there are six government schools built before, during, and after their (AAP) tenure. Since 2020, there have been continuous complaints of waterlogging in these schools.”

The education minister said whenever waterlogging occurs, students have to be sent home.

He asked whose government was in power since 2020, adding, “It was the so-called, self-proclaimed ‘man of development’ and ‘father of the education revolution.”

Sood alleged that the previous government failed to bring any improvement to Delhi in ten years, and for the past five years, AAP’s MLA represented this area, yet no progress was made.

The minister added that the continuous waterlogging in these six schools put children at risk of electric shocks, and during an inspection of the area, it was revealed that there used to be a pond nearby, where rainwater would naturally drain.

This pond, however, was concretized during the then Kejriwal government, which led to the water-logging crisis.

The minister claimed to have discovered that the pond was paved over under pressure from land mafia, adding that the government is now probing whether the concretisation of the said pond was funded through MLA fund.

“After the investigation, a major revelation will be made in the coming days,” he said, adding that, “On this Independence Day, we are being forced to shut down these six schools because they have been filling up with knee-deep water every year since 2020.”

He said the Public Works Department (PWD) has been asked to conduct an immediate investigation to prevent any major accidents or mishaps.

The minister also announced that the Delhi government would conduct asset mapping of all schools to assess infrastructure deficiencies.