Senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Delhi Cabinet Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj has stated that the BJP-ruled Haryana government is misleading the public about the water supply to Delhi. The Delhi Cabinet Minister claims that flow meter data indicates Haryana is supplying significantly less water than stated. He has called for Haryana to release their flow meter data for transparency. The Minister argues that the BJP, despite its “one nation” slogan, is deliberately reducing Delhi’s water supply, especially following the Lok Sabha election results, attributing these actions to political motives. He highlights a shortfall of approximately 117 MGD, further exacerbated after Delhi Water Minister Atishi’s hunger strike, noting that a shortage of 1 MGD affects around 28,500 residents.
Senior AAP leader and Cabinet Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said, “We all know that this time the temperature across North India is extremely high. This time, the temperature in Delhi has been recorded at 52 degrees Celsius. Not only during the day but the minimum temperature at night is also being measured at 38 degrees Celsius, which is a cause for concern. Naturally, the demand for water increases in such heat, and amidst this increasing demand, the petty politics being played by the BJP-ruled Haryana government is extremely unfortunate.”
The Cabinet Minister continued, stating that water generally comes to Delhi from two states, one being Uttar Pradesh and the other being Haryana. A large portion of this water comes from Haryana. Generally, Delhi produces approximately 1000 MGD (million gallons per day) of clean water, for which around 613 MGD of water is supplied from Haryana to Delhi every day.
Presenting some daily statistics, the Senior AAP Leader mentioned that on June 1, Delhi produced approximately 999 MGD of water, on June 2, it was 1,002 MGD, on June 3, it was 1,002 MGD, on June 4, it was 1,004 MGD, and on June 5, it was 1,003 MGD. However, as soon as the Lok Sabha election results were announced, the amount of water production in Delhi has been continuously decreasing. From June 6 onwards, the production of water has been falling continuously, and by June 21, it had dropped to only 896 MGD. He attributed this primarily to the Haryana state not supplying the full amount of water to Delhi.
Saurabh Bharadwaj expressed that the BJP-ruled Haryana government is continuously lying. “The water supply from Haryana is being consistently reduced. Flow meters are installed on their end, which indicate the amount of water coming from the other states, and if the Haryana government is not reducing the water supply, they should show their flow meter records indicating how much water is being sent to Delhi daily. The Haryana government reveals where their flow meters are installed, so that the data can be verified with the media and the truth can be presented to the public,” he asserted.
Furthermore, the Delhi Minister stated that the BJP-ruled Haryana government has stooped to a very low level of politics by cutting the water supply even more since Delhi’s Water Minister Atishi began her hunger strike. While previously, Haryana was cutting around 100 MGD of water, since the hunger strike began, an additional 17 MGD has been cut, totaling a reduction of approximately 117 MGD of Delhi’s share of water. Notably, 1 MGD of water meets the needs of about 28,500 people. Thus, in the past three days since the hunger strike began, an additional 17 MGD has been withheld, affecting approximately 485,000 more people.
“The Bharatiya Janata Party, which talks about ‘One Nation, One Election’, ‘One India, One Team’ and ‘Cooperative Federalism’, is now depriving the people of the national capital of water,” Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj concluded.
