Delhi BJP on Saturday accused the ruling AAP of indulging in melodrama instead of fixing issues of theft and leakages in the pipelines to address water crisis faced by people in the city. Citing Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs’ letter to Union Jal Shakti minister C R Patil for his intervention to solve the water crisis in Delhi, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva on Saturday claimed that the national capital is getting almost full quantity of raw water from Haryana and Uttrakhand while stating that even Delhi Water Minister Atishi admitted that there is hardly 0.5 to 7 per cent shortfall in drinking water production. He said people fail to understand what it will achieve.
“Despite the Supreme Court’s directive to the Delhi government to approach the Yamuna River Board for extra water, the Aam Aadmi Party is now creating a new political drama of approaching Union Water Minister C R Patil,” the Delhi BJP chief said in a statement.
It is beyond comprehension why the AAP leaders are indulging in “melodrama” over the water crisis in Delhi instead of fixing the issues of water theft by tanker mafia and leakages that account up to 70 per cent of water produced in the city, he said.
“The Delhiites fail to understand why the AAP MLAs are approaching the Union water minister when the Supreme Court has said only Upper Yamuna River Board can give extra water to Delhi,” Sachdeva said.
Highlighting Supreme Court’s directive to Delhi Government to approach Yamuna River Board for extra water, he said that the AAP is now creating a new political drama of approaching the Union Water Minister C.R. Patil.
“Delhiites fail to understand that when the Supreme Court has said that only Yamuna River Board can give extra water to Delhi then why is AAP going to the Union Water Minister,” he questioned.
Sachdeva, while asserting there is no water shortage in Delhi, challenged Atishi for an open discussion on raw water availability for Delhi at Munak Canal in presence of water department officials of both Delhi and Haryana.
Several parts of the national capital are reeling under acute shortage of water amid heatwave and power cuts. Delhi gets most of its water from the Yamuna, Ravi-Beas, and Ganga rivers. From the Ganga, via the Upper Ganga Canal in UP, Delhi receives 470 cusecs (roughly 254 MGD) of water. Two channels entering Delhi from Haryana — the Carrier Lined Channel (CLC) and the Delhi Sub Branch (DSB) — supply Delhi with water from the Yamuna and Ravi-Beas rivers. Delhi receives 719 cusecs of water through the CLC, a lined channel meant to reduce seepage-induced water loss, and 330 cusecs through the DSB (total of roughly 565 MGD). The Delhi Jal Board (DJB) also takes water directly from the Yamuna to try and meet demand. AAP Timarpur MLA Dilip Pandey has written to Union Minister for Jal Shakti C.R. Paatil seeking intervention and coordination with North Indian states to provide more water to Delhi amid water crisis in the national capital.
