New Delhi [India], June 20 (ANI): Congress' Delhi unit President Devender Yadav on Wednesday slammed the AAP government and Delhi's Water Minister over the politicisation of the water crisis issue and held them responsible for mishandling the situation.
Speaking with ANI, Delhi's Congress President said, "This is a deceit with the people of Delhi. It is the responsibility of the Delhi government to supply water to the people on time. To fulfil this urgency, there is a proper action plan attributed to the situation. There are a lot of things that are taken care of, including water management, distribution channels and the creation of an action plan."
He further added, "It's heart-wrenching to see the residents of Delhi thirsty for the last 15 days. The public of Delhi is getting nothing except 'Dramebaazi' and 'Chhithibaazi'. The public is noticing all these things and I think they will give a befitting reply for this situation."
Addressing the problems of water leakages, he said, "It was their responsibility to supply the available water in the right manner to the residents. In the last 4 years, cases of water leakages have arisen which resulted in the wastage of 58 per cent water. They should do some introspection on them and refrain from politicising the issue. This is not a political issue."
AAP Government should have worked on the issue from the early stages by taking help from Prime Minister Narendra Modi or any state government. I am happy that the Himachal Pradesh government has offered help, but it is the Delhi government's responsibility to channel the water supply to get it here.
Meanwhile, he also took a jibe at Delhi's Water Minister Atishi and stated she is only pretending to work.
"They have woken up after the tragedy has happened. I want to remind Atishi Ji that she is Delhi's Water Minister and it's her responsibility to fulfil the demands of water. Now, she is doing meetings and pretending as if she is working. If she had taken measures earlier, a month ago, the situation wouldn't have worsened. The people have lost hope from them. They will answer when the time will come," said Devender Yadav.
Earlier in the day, Delhi's Water Minister Atishi wrote a letter to Prime Minister Modi and requested ample supply of water to the 28 lakh residents of Delhi.
"Today I have written a letter to the Prime Minister saying that 28 lakh people in Delhi are not getting water. I have requested that he should help provide water as soon as possible...If the people of Delhi do not get their rightful share of water by the 21st, then I will be forced to do a Satyagraha," Atishi said in a press conference.
"Due to the scorching heat, the water problem in Delhi has also increased. Today, Delhiites need more water. The total supply of water in Delhi is 1050 MGD, out of which 613 MGD water comes from Haryana but Haryana is not giving the full share of water to Delhi," she alleged further.
The Delhi Minister also mentioned that due to the shortage of water released from the Haryana side, 28 lakh people are getting less water in Delhi.
"Haryana gave only 513 MGD of water to Delhi yesterday. Due to this, Delhi is short of 100 MGD of water today. Due to this, about 28 lakh people are getting less water. The people of Delhi are troubled. We have made all efforts to solve this problem. We have spoken to the Chief Minister of Haryana, but the BJP government of Haryana is not giving Delhi its share of water," Atishi said.
Earlier on June 18, to address the severe water shortage in the national capital, a high-level delegation of officials from the Delhi Government was convened with the Principal Secretary (Water Resources) of the Haryana Government. The Delhi Government solicited additional release of water to Delhi from the Haryana government.
This meeting took place in Chandigarh on Tuesday. (ANI)
