NEW DELHI, June 22: Amidst heated exchanges between the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the opposition BJP and the Congress over alleged failure of the Delhi government to manage the current water crisis in the capital city, the Delhi lieutenant governor Vinai Kumar Saxena on Saturday hit out at the city government accusing its ministers of turning the water crisis into an ‘opportunity’ to blame neighbouring states.
The Delhi water supply minister Atishi launched an indefinite hunger strike from Friday requesting the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene after accusing the neighbouring Haryana government of playing with the lives of the people of Delhi by refusing to release Delhi’s share of water.
“The shrill discourse of the Ministers of the GNCTD over the last few weeks, has been distressing and questionable at various levels. Drinking water supply has become a challenge in the national capital. Political leaders of Delhi have turned a crisis into an opportunity for blaming neighbouring states, with the sole aim of gaining political mileage,” Saxena said in a statement.
Pointing that the capital is dependent on drinking water supply from neighbouring states of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, Saxena added, “Interstate water-sharing arrangements are settled through institutional mechanisms created by the Ministry of Jal Shakti, GoI, upheld time and again by the highest court of the land.”
“The states are obliged to release water as per agreements signed under this framework. At the same time, the city government is under an obligation to ensure that this water resource is used efficiently to ensure equitable supplies across the city,” the L-G’s statement read.
The Delhi L-G’s statement comes amid a heated war of words between the governments of Delhi and Haryana over the acute water crisis in the capital. “This is the second day of my fast. There is an acute shortage of water in Delhi. Delhi receives water from its neighbouring states. Delhi receives a total of 1005 MGD of water that is supplied to the houses in Delhi. Of this, 613 MGD of water comes from Haryana but for the past several weeks, it has been releasing only 513 MGD,” Atishi said in a video on her X handle.
“Due to this, more than 28 lakh people in Delhi are not receiving water. I tried everything but when the Haryana government didn’t agree to supply water, I was left with no choice but to sit on a fast,” she added.
(Manas Dasgupta)