As #DilliKaPaniZehrila, trended on Twitter on Monday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal rejected the report prepared by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) as “false and politically motivated”. Union Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan challenged him to name officials for a team comprising city and Central officials to test the water quality.
In the first phase of its survey, the BIS had found that all the 11 samples drawn from Delhi did not comply with the quality norm and failed on all 19 parameters.
Dismissing the BIS report, Kejriwal said, “Between January and September 24, Delhi Jal Board (DJB) collected 1,55,302 samples, of which 2,222 samples failed to meet the standard. This means 1.43 per cent samples failed.”
“But 98.5 per cent samples did meet the standards. Similarly, the data for October showed that out of the 16,502 samples, only 658 failed to meet the specified standard," the Delhi CM claimed.
Kejriwal argued that as per the Wealth Health Organisation (WHO) standards, the sample needs to be collected for every 10,000 people and only then can a study come to a conclusion. In this case, at least 2,000 samples would have been collected.
Kejriwal also pointed at the contradictory statement of Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekawat, who had said Delhi's water quality was better than the European standards. "Both Shekhawat and Paswan are in the Cabinet of the Central Government. Let them decide who is correct," Kejriwal said.
He argued that Delhi water quality should not be judged on 11 samples. The Delhi Government said in the coming days it would collect five samples from each municipal ward in Delhi in the presence of the people, media and the Opposition for testing.
Kejriwal also invited Paswan to be present on the occasion. After the BIS report, posters were put in the national Capital slamming the Kejriwal Government for making people to drink "poisonous" water.
Earlier, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan had tweeted about the "poisonous" water in Delhi to hit out at the Kejriwal Government. Tagging Kejriwal, he tweeted, "In the name of free water, you are making Delhi residents drink poison. A survey in 20 cities in the country found the Delhi water to be most poisonous".
In reply, Kejriwal tweeted, "Sir, you are a doctor. You know this report is false. It is influenced by politics. People like you should not become a part of the dirty politics".
Later, taking to Twitter, Paswan said, "Today, on the first day of the Winter Session, I announced on the floor of the Lok Sabha that the Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal must nominate your representative to test the water samples again. We nominate Pramod Tiwari, DG (BIS) and J Roychowdhury DDG (Labs) BIS on behalf of BIS."
Paswan said this joint team will collect water samples from every area of Delhi and get it tested in any government certified lab. "We do not mind. My aim is to provide clean drinking water to people not only in Delhi but across the country," he added.
Other BJP MPs from Delhi, including Meenakshi Lekhi and Hans Raj Hans, also raised the matter and attacked the AAP.