Delhi Leaders Turned Water Crisis into Opportunity For Political Mileage, Says Delhi LG VK Saxena

New Delhi: Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena, on Saturday, addressed the ongoing political slugfest over the acute water crisis in the national capital. Releasing a statement on the same, he accused the AAP of blaming the neighbouring states and deriving political mileage rather than seeking a resolution.

He took to X to write, "The shrill discourse of the Ministers of the GNCTD over the last few weeks has been distressing and questionable at various levels. Drinking water supply has become a challenge in the national capital. Political leaders of Delhi have turned a crisis into an opportunity for blaming neighbouring states, with the sole aim of gaining political mileage."

He added, “Delhi is dependent on drinking water supply from Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. Interstate water-sharing arrangements are settled through institutional mechanisms created by the Ministry of Jal Shakti, GoI, upheld time and again by the highest court of the land. The states are obliged to release water as per agreements signed under this framework. At the same time, the city government is under an obligation to ensure that this water resource is used efficiently to ensure equitable supplies across the city.”

Water Cannons To Disperse Protesting BJP Workers

The Delhi Police, on Saturday, used a water cannon to disperse BJP workers demonstrating against the AAP government over water shortage in the national capital. Led by the BJP's former South Delhi MP Ramesh Bidhuri, the protesters gathered outside a Delhi Jal Board (DJB) office in Okhla and raised slogans against the AAP government. The police dispersed them with a water cannon after they refused to move. Amid a punishing heat wave battering the city, Delhi is facing a severe water shortage while the BJP and AAP continue to blame each other for the crisis. Addressing the protesters, Bidhuri alleged that the DJB, which had profits of Rs 600 crore, is now facing losses of Rs 60,000 crore due to corruption. He later handed over a memorandum to a DJB engineer over an acute shortage of water in the Tughlaqabad assembly constituency.

Meanwhile, Delhi Water Minister Atishi's indefinite hunger strike for the release of the city's "rightful share" of water share in the Yamuna by Haryana entered its second day on Saturday. Atishi launched her hunger strike, accusing the BJP government in Haryana of stopping the release of 100 million gallons per day (MGD) of water to Delhi and said it has affected 28 lakh people in the city. (with PTI inputs)