Shashi Tharoor doffs hat in rare praise for ‘courteous’ Delhi lieutenant governor (File)
New Delhi:
As Delhi broke an 88-year rainfall record this morning in a much-needed respite from an unprecedented months-long heatwave and several parts of the city reported widespread flooding, lieutenant governor VK Saxena received a rare shout-out from his political rival . and Congress MP Shashi Tharoor.
Tharoor, in a post on X, posted a video of the street in front of his Delhi home submerged in waist-deep water. He was seen wading through the flooded road with sticks in hand to measure the depth and open manholes.
The Thiruvananthapuram MP, in his usual inimitable style, wrote: “This is the corner right outside my house in Lutyens’ Delhi. I woke up to find my entire house under 30 centimeters of water, every room. The carpets and the Furniture, in fact everything that was on the floor, was ruined. Apparently, the storm drains in the neighborhood are all clogged, so the water had nowhere to go. And they turned off the electricity at 6 in the morning out of fear. to electrocute people. I warned my colleagues in Parliament that I might not be able to get there without a boat. But the city managed to pump the water out of the streets and I got there in time!”
I was surprised and impressed that this tweet provoked, within minutes, a phone call from the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi himself! Mr. VK Saxena was courteous and attentive and explained the limitations to effective action arising from the division of responsibilities between the Union and… https://t.co/GdaDTwEkxJ
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) June 28, 2024
Within an hour, however, he doffed his hat in a rare compliment to the “courteous and thoughtful” Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, whom Mr Tharoor called a “conscientious public servant”.
In an earlier article, Mr. Tharoor wrote: “I am surprised and impressed that this tweet prompted, within minutes, a phone call from the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi himself. Mr. VK Saxena was courteous and attentive and explained the limitations to effective action arising from the division of responsibilities between the Union and State Governments It understands that the main problem lies in the lack of regular clearing of clogged drains and promised to do everything in its power to ensure. let this be done before the next big rain. Hats off to a conscientious official!”
Delhi received nearly 230 mm of rain between 8:30 am on Thursday and 8:30 am today, marking the highest rainfall in 24 hours in June since 1936.
The torrential downpour brought life to a standstill in several parts of the national capital region. Images showed flooded roads, long and winding traffic in most parts of the city and submerged cars.
A portion of the roof of the departure complex at Delhi airport’s Terminal 1 collapsed early in the morning, killing one person and injuring six others.
All departures from Terminal 1, which only handles domestic flights, have been suspended until midnight, the Civil Aviation Ministry said.
Monsoon in Delhi soon
The monsoon is expected to reach Delhi by the end of this week, the IMD said.
Last year, the monsoon hit Delhi on June 26.