NEW DELHI: Besides taking on Haryana in the Supreme Court, where the matter will be heard on Monday, the
Aam Aadmi Party decided on direct action to press the neighbouring state on releasing the capital’s “rightful share of water”.
On Saturday, several
AAP MLAs marched to the state’s outpost, Haryana Bhavan, on Copernicus Marg and asked the BJP government in Haryana “not to politicise the issue of
water supply”.
The protests will continue till Haryana increases the amount of water being sent to Delhi, asserted Dinesh Mohaniya, vice-chairman of Delhi Jal Board and MLA from Sangam Vihar. “Water sharing agreements between states are based on the principle that river water is a national resource. In the case of Delhi, a Supreme Court judgment even specifies that the pondage level at Wazirabad reservoir should not fall below 674.5ft in any circumstance,” he said.
With water at Wazirabad currently at 669ft, and with no respite after taking the problem to the National Green Tribunal and Delhi high court, hundreds of demonstrators besieged Haryana Bhavan carrying banners asking the Manohar Lal Khattar government in Haryana play politics with the water supply. Around a dozen ruling party MLAs, including Sanjeev Jha, Shiv Charan Goel, Anil Bajpeyi, Gulab Singh, Alka Lamba, Commando Surender Singh and Madan Lal, participated in the protest.
Jha, MLA from Burari, alleged that the Haryana government's act was politically motivated, while Lal, MLA from Kasturba Nagar, elaborated, “BJP is seeking revenge on Delhi’s people for not having voted it to power in Delhi.” Claiming that Haryana’s chief secretary had admitted to lapses leading to water being polluted, a Delhi government spokesperson said, “The water crisis in Delhi is serious, proved by the recent death of a citizen over a dispute related to water. The Haryana government is directly responsible for creating this artificial shortage, and the reasons are not so much administrative as they are political.”
With the AAP government approaching the second half of its tenure, water has assumed a bigger importance in the scheme of things. Deputy CM Manish Sisodia announced a 19.9% hike in Delhi Jal Board’s allocation in the Budget and declared that the government would improve the water infrastructure and plug all leaks by the yearend. Critically, noting that in all these years, despite being a water-stressed state, Delhi had no idea where almost half the water it supplied went to, the government announced time-bound programme to set up water audits at supply points and serviced localities.
Representative Photo
