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(CNN)Veneto regional council, which is located on Venice's Grand Canal, was flooded for the first time in its history on Tuesday night -- just after it rejected measures to combat climate change.
The historic Italian city has been brought to its knees this week by the worst flooding there in more than 50 years.
And the council chamber in Ferro Fini Palace started to take in water around 10 p.m. local time, as councilors were debating the 2020 regional budget, Democratic Party councilor Andrea Zanoni said in a long Facebook post.
"Ironically, the chamber was flooded two minutes after the majority League, Brothers of Italy, and Forza Italia parties rejected our amendments to tackle climate change," Zanoni, who is deputy chairman of the environment committee, said in the post, which also has photographs of the room under water.
Among the rejected amendments were measures to fund renewable sources, to replace diesel buses with "more efficient and less polluting ones," to scrap polluting stoves and reduce the impact of plastics, he said.
Zanoni went on to accuse Veneto regional president Luca Zaia, who is a member of Matteo Salvini's far-right League Party, of presenting a budget "with no concrete actions to combat climate change."
The regional council's spokesman Alessandro Ovizach confirmed to CNN that the council was flooded after discussing amendments to the 2020 budget -- without specifying which ones.
The council's president, the League's Roberto Ciambetti, rejected Zanoni's accusations in a statement to CNN.
"Beyond propaganda and deceptive reading, we are voting (for) a regional budget that spent €965 million over the past three years in the fight against air pollution, smog, which is a determining factor in climate change," said the statement.
Photos: In photos: High tide floods Venice
A city worker helps a woman cross a gangway in Venice, Italy, on Sunday, November 17.
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Pumps spout water from a flooded restaurant on November 17.
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A man sits on a stepladder inside a shop as a woman walks down a flooded street.
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A flooded St. Mark's Square is seen on Friday, November 15, in Venice, Italy.
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People traverse a provisional footpath built over flood waters on Friday, November 15, in Venice, Italy.
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Guests inspect high tidal waters inside a Venice hotel, on Friday, November 15.
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Volunteers treat damaged music sheets from the historical archive of the Conservatorio Benedetto Marcello, on Friday, November 15. Important music sheets have been damaged by unexpected flooding throughout the city of Venice.
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A man carries luggage Friday as he wades through the flood.
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Banksy's migrant child mural is seen partially submerged on Friday.
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A woman checks the state of books from renowned bookstore "Acqua Alta" (High Water) on Friday after flooding in Venice.
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A woman with a selfie stick makes her through a flooded St. Mark's Square.
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People wade Friday through a flooded Venice alley.
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People wearing waterproof shoe covers walk through floodwater on Thursday, November 14, at St. Mark's Square in Venice, Italy.
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In a photo taken on Tuesday, November 12, flooding is seen inside Ferro Fini Palace in Venice. Democratic Party councilor Andrea Zanoni said on Facebook that the Palace's council chamber started to take in water around 10 p.m. local time on Tuesday, as councilors were debating the 2020 regional budget.
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A group of Gondoliers are seen on a pier in Venice, after the city suffered its highest tide in 50 years.
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Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte surveys flood damage in Venice on November 14.
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Members of the municipal police stand in water by St. Mark's Basilica on November 14.
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Head of the Forza Italia party and former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, second from right, assesses the flood damage on November 14.
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A shopkeeper throws out water from his flooded store on Wednesday, November 13.
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A woman sits in a chair in a flooded St. Mark's Square on November 13.
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People walk past a stranded water taxi after it was washed from its mooring by the high tide.
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A woman crosses a flooded St. Mark's Square on November 13, after an exceptionally high tide inundated the area overnight.
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A woman walks her dog through a flooded street on November 13.
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A general view shows a man crossing the flooded St. Mark's Square on November 13.
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Police officers patrol a flooded St. Mark's Square during the high tide on November 12.
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A man stands inside a restaurant barricaded from the flooding on November 12.
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An employee of the Gritti Palace helps a customer navigate a flooded entrance on November 12.
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A woman stands on a barrier during an exceptional "alta acqua" high tide on November 12.
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People traverse a footpath built over the flood waters.
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The entrance to St. Mark's Basilica is flooded on November 12.
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People walk through flood waters in St. Mark's Square on Tuesday.
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The high tide is seen near the Rialto Bridge in Venice.
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A person photographs a flooded St. Mark's Square on November 12.
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"To say that we do nothing is a lie," Ciambetti said. "We are a region that after the 2010 flood launched a plan to safeguard hydrogeological safety for a total cost of €2.6 billion, an exorbitant amount for regional finances."
Ciambetti also mentioned the €468 million spent in the aftermath of the Vaia storm last year which flattened hundreds of thousands of trees.
Earlier Ciambetti, who posted videos of the flooding at Ferro Fini Palace on his Facebook page, said in a statement to local paper Giornale di Vicenza:
"Never had such a situation occurred here (at the Council). The flood-proof bulkheads were not sufficient to contain the flood wave, nor was it possible to leave the building... It was preferred to guarantee safety and therefore to stay all inside the palace."
The regional council meetings on Thursday and Friday were moved to Treviso because of the flooding, according to the council's website.
On Tuesday, Venice's mayor Luigi Brugnaro blamed climate change for the unusually high tides in Venice, and said the flooding was "a wound that will leave a permanent mark."
CNN has reached out to Zanoni for comment.
