NEW DELHI: Delhi BJP president Harsh Vardhan on Wednesday said the claims made by the Delhi Government in the Lieutenant-Governor's address to the Delhi Assembly were false and hollow and this had been proved by the way the people voted in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi elections.

Participating in the discussion in the Assembly on the Lieutenant-Governor's address, Dr. Vardhan said: "It is a gross wrong to say that Delhi has become a world class Capital as 51 lakh people here have no house of their own, 10 lakh children have never been to school, 40 per cent people have no supply of drinking water and 30 per cent people have no access to power supply.''

Moreover, he charged that the city has become unsafe for women and senior citizens, the sex ratio of girls has declined to 865 girls for1,000 boys, the Yamuna continues to flow dirty and 5 lakh illegal Bangladeshis are being allowed to live in the city.

Holding the Congress responsible for all the ills, Dr. Vardhan said while the financial position of the Government was sound, its conduct was not good enough.

"This is the reason why even when the Government demanded only Rs.7,200 crore from the Centre, it was given Rs.9,000 crore,'' he said, adding that actually the need was for at least Rs.25,000 crore.

Dr. Vardhan said according to the Planning Department of Delhi, only 64.98 per cent fund was spent of the funds reserved for various Government plan heads up to January 2007. Moreover, he said, the Delhi Jal Board spent only 71.55 per cent when so many people continue to crave even for a single drop of water.

The worst performance was by the Slum and J.J. Department, he said, as it spent only 12.86 per cent of its funds.

He said the claims made in the speech about power were also not true as the actual peak daily demand is around 4,500 MW, while Delhi produces less than a fifth of it. Also, he questioned how the land mafia had been allowed to capture 79 natural water resources in Delhi, as has been submitted by the Government to the High Court.

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