Allegations of lying are flying thick and fast as Delhi's water shortage and the political row sparked by it continue to escalate. On Tuesday, the BJP accused Delhi Water Minister Atishi of lying and she, in turn, said the BJP-ruled Haryana government was being dishonest. Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena also waded into the controversy, claiming that the AAP was misrepresenting facts.
In an apparent reference to the alleged liquor scam, in which Delhi Chief Minister and AAP National Convener Arvind Kejriwal is behind bars, Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva said, "You (the AAP government and Ms Atishi) have not been able to repair pipelines despite being in power for over 10 years. If you can't stop leakage and the theft of water, what are you in the government for, only for indulging in corruption?"
"Water theft is taking place with the protection of the Delhi government. If anybody is responsible for the people of Delhi having to suffer because of the lack of water, it is the Delhi Jal Board, its officials and the Delhi government," he added.
Reiterating her charge that Haryana is not releasing Delhi's share of water through the Munak canal, Ms Atishi also said the Supreme Court had asked Haryana to allow the flow of water from Himachal Pradesh, which would come to the Wazirabad Barrage, but the levels there have also been falling since then.
"But Haryana's conspiracy hasn't stopped there. According to the decision by the Upper Yamuna River Board, Haryana has to release 1,050 cusecs of water, but Delhi has been getting less than that for the past few days. The Haryana government was lying that they have released as much as they were supposed to, but its affidavit filed in the Supreme Court has proved otherwise," she claimed.
"In the annexure, it is written that the quantity of water released came down days before May 25, when the Lok Sabha elections in Delhi were supposed to take place... The Haryana government's own figures and affidavit have exposed their lies to the people of Delhi and the country. We will place all these figures before the Supreme Court tomorrow and I will write to the Haryana chief minister today," the minister asserted.
Lieutenant Governor Saxena said he has spoken to Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini and was informed that Delhi's share of water is being released every day.
"Spoke to Hon'ble CM, Haryana, Shri Nayab Saini ji yesterday. He reiterated that water was being provided to Delhi as per allocated share and assured of all possible help, despite the state's own constraints due to the ongoing heat wave," the Lieutenant Governor said in a post on X.
Mr Saxena had met Ms Atishi and her Delhi cabinet colleague Saurabh Bharadwaj on Monday and assured them that he would take up the water supply issue with the Haryana government. He had also asked them not to indulge in a "blame game".
The LG had also said that the Delhi government was to blame because tankers were stealing water. Reacting to this, Ms Atishi said the water is less than it is supposed to be when it reaches Delhi.
"This means that tankers are filling up water in Haryana. Does the LG want ministers from Delhi to go to Haryana and stop that?" she asked.
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