New Delhi: The fact-check unit of the Union government’s Press Information Bureau on Sunday, September 10, said that claims saying that the G20 summit’s main venue was flooded were “exaggerated and misleading”.It said “minor water accumulation in [the] open area outside Hall 5 [of the ITPO complex]” occurred due to overnight rain but was cleared in 20 minutes by deploying pumps.“No waterlogging happened at the main venue of [the] G20 summit … No inconvenience [was] caused due to rains,” a video it posted on X (formerly Twitter) said.The Bharat Mandapam within New Delhi’s ITPO complex served as the main venue of the G20 summit last week. The summit’s final events took place on Sunday.Delhi received 38 mm of rainfall in a 24-hour period ending at 8:30 am on Sunday, the Hindustan Times reported. According to the India Meteorological Department, the city sees an average of about 128 mm of rain in the month of September.Saurabh Bharadwaj, Delhi’s urban development minister, posted a video of the water accumulation at the ITPO complex, saying that the main area was “submerged in water”.“Resp @LtGovDelhi [Delhi lieutenant governor V.K. Saxena] saab, This is very serious. Even after ur 50+ inspections, if the very main area around Mandapam is submerged in water, then heads must roll. I as Minister of Delhi don’t have control over this Central Govt area, else would have assisted u sir,” he said on X.theResp @LtGovDelhi saab,This is very serious. Even after ur 50+ inspections, if the very main area around Mandapam is submerged in water, then heads must roll. I as Minister of Delhi don’t have control over this Central Govt area, else would have assisted u sir. pic.twitter.com/hn0dSBSA78— Saurabh Bharadwaj (@Saurabh_MLAgk) September 10, 2023The Congress party also posted a video of the wet area and said the Union government’s “hollow development [was] exposed”.Officials working for Saxena told PTI that he was kept in the loop about the rain when it started on Saturday night.“During the dinner hosted by the President of Bharat, it began to rain and Saxena activated the contingency plan put in place for such an eventuality,” an official said, adding that the area was clean by the time dignitaries arrived on Sunday.His reference to the “President of Bharat” comes on the heels of speculation that India’s name may be changed to ‘Bharat’, which is its official name in Hindi.These were triggered by government booklets and invitations referring to the country as ‘Bharat’ (in English) and drew ire from opposition parties.Union information and broadcasting minister Anurag Thakur dismissed the speculation as “rumours”.
