51% residents unhappy with Delhi government`s handling of Covid, pollution: Survey

The handling of the second wave of Covid-19 by the Delhi government has largely left Delhiites unhappy. Percentage of Delhiites who rated Covid handling by Delhi Government as good declined from 40% to 32% in the last one year.

New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party has completed two years in Delhi in its second stint and has been in power in the state for seven years. The Arvind Kejriwal-wave helped the party come into power in the capital 2015 for the time, when a newly-born party took on, and won, against heavyweights BJP and Congress. In 2020, AAP managed to repeat the feat and swept away the Assembly polls that year. However, according to a survey by Local Circles, AAP's popularity seems to have taken a hit.

According to a survey by Local Circles, at the 2-year mark, the approval rating of AAP has declined with only 1 in 3 Delhiites rating its two-year performance as good or better. Here are some stats, as per the survey, that will give a detailed picture. The Survey received over 37,500 responses covering residents from all 11 districts of Delhi. 67% of the respondents were men while 33% were women.

• Only 32% Delhiites rate Delhi Government’s handling of Covid-19 in the last 2 years as good; 51% rate it poor or worse, largely on the account of the handling of the second wave.
• Only 21% Delhiites rate Delhi Government’s efforts to improve air quality in the last 2 years as good; 51% rate it poor or worse 
• Only 31% Delhiites rate Delhi Government’s efforts to reduce corruption in the last 2 years as good; 45% rate them poor or worse 

As the numbers indicate, Delhi Government's handling of Covid-19 didn't impress its residents. The AAP government was heavily criticised for Covid management during the second wave of the pandemic. Hospitals and medical staff were overburdened, and the capital faced acute shortage of beds and oxygen while caregivers were running pillar to post looking for Covid medicines and many fell victim to the black-marketing. Percentage of Delhiites who rated Covid handling by Delhi Government as good declined from 40% to 32% in the last one year.

Pollution remains another sore point for Delhiites. The air pollution becomes worse during Diwali and throughout the winter months, the quality of air pose serious health issues to citizens. This is also a point which Delhiites in the survey said they were disappointed about.