As the war of words between the AAP-ruled Delhi Government and the BJP-ruled Haryana Government over Delhi’s ‘ rightful share Yamuna water entered its third day, an AAP delegation including party leaders Sanjay Singh, Saurabh Bharadwaj, and Dilip Pandey, met Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena on Sunday over the ongoing water crisis in the national capital and urged him to talk to the Haryana Government to release Delhi’s share of water.
After meeting the Delhi Lieutenant Governor, AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj said, “We requested the Lt Governor to talk to Haryana. Haryana is still giving around 113 MGD less water to Delhi, due to which lakhs of people are facing problems and the Lt Governor has assured us that he will talk to the Haryana government and try to ensure that we get Delhi’s water”.
“The delegation, comprising 10 prominent AAP members including Rajya Sabha MPs Sanjay Singh and ND Gupta, General Secretary Pankaj Gupta, Cabinet Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj, and MLAs Dilip Pandey, Somnath Bharti, Rajesh Gupta, Rituraj Jha and others, highlighted that Delhi is receiving 113 MGD less water than its entitlement. Noting the stark increase in Delhi’s population from 1.1 crore in 1994 to 3 crore today, they stressed the urgent need for action. The LG assured the delegation of his commitment to resolving the issue and making every effort to ensure Delhi receives its fair share of water from Haryana,” the AAP said in a statement.
“We also told LG that it will rain in a week. Rain has started in Shimla and Himachal. So much water will come in the next week that Haryana will not be able to stop it even if it wants to. So now it is just a matter of a week. We have requested LG sahab to get water from Haryana for Delhi for a week,” Bharadwaj shared.
Significantly, Delhi receives around 1,005 MGD from rivers and canals, with Haryana contributing 613 MGD. Currently, Delhi is getting 500-513 MGD water instead of 613 MGD from the Haryana government. In this way, 100 MGD less water is being received daily.
“Due to less water being continuously received by Delhi from Haryana, Delhiites are not getting adequate water supply. Because water production is decreasing. 28,500 people get water from one MGD water. That means more than 28 lakh people in Delhi are being affected due to the Haryana government stopping 100 MGD water. Therefore, there is a lot of panic for water in different parts of Delhi. Delhiites are waiting for water for hours. Women stand in this scorching heat and wait for tankers,” the AAP said.
“In 1994, the Upper Yamuna Board decided to provide 1,005 MGD water keeping in view the current population of Delhi. At that time, Delhi’s population was 1.1 crore. It has been 30 years since this agreement was made. In these 30 years, Delhi’s population has increased from 1.1 crore to 3 crore. That means Delhi’s population has increased almost three times, but Delhi is still getting only 1,005 MGD water,” it added.
Meanwhile, AAP leader Gopal Rai on Sunday called Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena ‘BJP spokesperson, alleging that the latter doesn’t care about Delhiites and their problem amid the city grappling with water crisis.
“I want to tell this to LG because he keeps on forgetting that he is not Haryana LG, but Delhi LG. Delhi LG doesn’t care about the plight of people here. It is shameful that Delhi L-G has now become BJP’s spokesperson in Haryana,” Rai said during the indefinite strike of Delhi minister Atishi over the water crisis in the capital.
