Haryana "Deliberately", "Illegally" Halting Water Supply To Delhi: Atishi

Delhi Water Minister Atishi on Tuesday accused the Haryana government of deliberately and illegally halting the water supply to the capital.

In a press conference here, Atishi alleged that the Haryana government was releasing less water to Delhi, rendering the city unable to meet its daily water needs.

Citing an affidavit submitted by the Haryana government in the Supreme Court, the minister said, "The Haryana government has been lying that they have released adequate supply of water to Delhi. Their affidavit filed in the Supreme Court presents the data on actual discharge of water which has exposed their lie." 

The minister also slammed Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena for blaming the AAP government for the ill maintenance of water canals and theft of water supply by illegal tankers.

"LG sahab has been exposed. He said the Munak canal is not maintained properly. The maintenance, repair, and security of the canal comes under the Haryana Irrigation Department. He also said water is being stolen from the canal. If all this is happening why doesn't he speak to Haryana CM? He only has one job, to blame the AAP government for everything," Atishi said.

"The Delhi police reports to LG, why doesn't he get those stealing water arrested? This shows everything is happening with his blessings," she alleged.

Raj Niwas in a statement accused the city government of making excuses to hide its "criminal failure" in providing water to Delhi residents.

"Minister Atishi is yet again characteristically lying to mislead the people of Delhi, create an excuse for the criminal failure of the Kejriwal government in providing water to the people and creating a false public narrative even while the SC is hearing the matter," the LG office said in a statement.

It said the question of the shortfall, if any, is irrelevant since by her admission, all Water Treatment Plants of Delhi barring one, are producing more water than their capacity, from water supplied by the Munak canal from Haryana.

"The only one that is not is the Wazirabad WTP which lifts water from the reservoir behind Wazirabad barrage which is filled with silt to 96 per cent of its capacity and has not been desilted for the past 10 years," it said.

On the jurisdiction of the repair work, it said, "Yes, the Haryana government repairs the Munak Canal but the same is done at the demand of and payment by the Delhi government... Obviously, the Delhi government has never tried to ascertain the disrepair in the lining of the canal and never asked for its repair." 

It said, "The custodians and owners of water coming into Delhi are the Delhi government and DJB. Tankers are stealing water from the canal but DJB has never even filed a complaint, leave apart an FIR with Delhi Police. This is obviously because there is active connivance between the tanker mafia and AAP." The LG office asked Atishi to file an FIR against the water theft and promised her that it will back the complaint with the strictest action.

If only the 54 per cent unaccounted water and 40 per cent leakage are plugged by the Kejriwal government, the poor people of Delhi will have more than ample water, it claimed.

"However, Minister Atishi will not say a single word about this, because of the deep nexus that exists between her party and the water mafia," the statement added.

Citing the affidavit, Atishi said that from May 23, the water quantities released by the Haryana government were reduced.

The figures of the affidavit given by the Haryana government in the Supreme Court show that from May 1 to 22, Haryana released 719 cusecs of water in CLC and 330 cusecs of water in DSB through the Munak canal.

That means 1,049 cusecs of water were released daily. But after this, it started decreasing from May 23. That means, that when there were elections in Delhi, Haryana reduced the sending of water, she said.

"Compared to 719 cusecs of water in CLC and 330 cusecs in DSB, the water supply became 675 cusecs and 283 cusecs, this is Haryana's figures. The elections in Delhi were on May 25, before that, the water supply to Delhi was reduced for four days, which is clear from his Supreme Court affidavit itself," she added.

The minister said that according to Haryana's data, on June 7, 8, 9 and 10, the state was supposed to release 719 cusecs of water in CLC, instead of which only 675 cusecs of water were released, and in DSB, instead of 330 cusecs, 310 cusecs of water was released.

"Today the lies of the Haryana government have been exposed and it has become clear that Haryana is releasing only 985 cusecs of water instead of 1050 cusecs, which is getting even less in Delhi due to transmission loss.

"Due to this, water production is decreasing and the people of Delhi are troubled," she said.

The minister said that she would write a letter to Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini on the matter and approach the Supreme Court to present the data in the affidavit.

"We will submit all these figures to the Supreme Court and tell how the Haryana government is also disobeying the Supreme Court," she said.

Atishi said that Delhi was falling short of 40-45 million gallons per day of water due to the stalled water supply from Haryana.

The Delhi government's quick response team has been tasked to inspect the water distribution plants in Delhi to check for any leakages amid the water crisis in the city, she added. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)