Delhi Water Minister Atishi on Wednesday said she has sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention to resolve the ongoing water crisis in the national capital, failing which she will sit on indefinite fast from Friday. The shortfall in water supply has rendered nearly 28 lakh people in Delhi waterless, she added.
Addressing the media persons here on Wednesday, Delhi Water Minister Atishi said nowadays Delhi is facing extreme heat waves. In this extreme heat, the day temperature is reaching 47-48 degrees, and the night temperature is also reaching 40-41 degrees. In such extreme heat, the need for water increases for every person, today Delhiites need more water. But at the time when Delhiites need more water due to this extreme heat, there is a shortage of water in Delhi today, there is not enough water in Delhi.
Pointing out the shortfall between the demand and supply of water, the Water Minister said why is there a shortage of water in Delhi today, why is there a panic in Delhi, why are the people of Delhi yearning for every drop of water. “We have to understand that the total water supply in Delhi is 1,050 MGD. Out of this 1,050 MGD, 613 MGD comes to the Yamuna from Haryana. The amount of water that was supposed to come from Haryana yesterday, that is, on June 18, which was 613 MGD, has come down to 513 MGD. This means that Delhi is facing a water shortage of 100 MGD today. What does 100 MGD water shortage mean? One MGD water meets the daily water demand of nearly 28,500 people. If Delhi is getting 100 MGD less water from Haryana, it means more than 28 lakh people are getting less water. This is the situation of Delhi today,” she said.
Talking about the steps taken by the Delhi Government to resolve the issue, Minister Atishi said the people of Delhi are very troubled and we have made every possible effort to solve this problem for the people of Delhi. “I wrote a letter to the Chief Minister of Haryana, but Haryana still did not give water. I spoke to the Chief Minister of Himachal, he said that he is ready to give water from Himachal but that water also has to come through Haryana; Haryana refused to give Himachal’s water as well,” she added.
“I went to the Supreme Court; I pleaded before the Supreme Court that Delhi needs this 100 MGD water otherwise 28 lakh people are not getting water. The Supreme Court also accepted that there is a water crisis in Delhi but despite that the Haryana government did not give water to Delhi. Our MLAs went to meet the Union Jal Shakti Minister, he did not meet our MLAs. Yesterday, senior officials of the Delhi government went to meet the Haryana government officers and asked them for water for 28 lakh people of Delhi, but Haryana refused to give water,” the Delhi Minister stated.
The Water Minister said that the population of Delhi is 3 crore, and our allocated share of water is only 1,050 MGD. Three crore people also live in Haryana but Haryana’s water allocation is 6,500 MGD. So even if Haryana has to give 100 MGD water to Delhi, it is only 1.5% of its total water. “Still, despite our every possible effort, the Haryana government is not giving water to Delhi. Now the suffering of the people of Delhi has crossed all limits, the people of Delhi are yearning for every drop of water. Just imagine, 28 lakh people are not getting water, they are waiting for hours for water, waiting for tankers, managing their lives with less water. But still the Haryana government is not providing water to Delhi,” she said.
Ms. Atishi said, “Today, I have written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji and I have requested him that now the suffering of the people of Delhi is crossing all limits. Today, 28 lakh people in Delhi did not get water, so I have made this humble request to PM Narendra Modi that he should get water for the people of Delhi, whether he gets it from Haryana or from anywhere, but now he will have to get water for the people of Delhi somehow.”
In her letter to the Prime Minister, Delhi Water Minister Atishi has highlighted the plight of Delhiites owing to the unprecedented heat wave and the steps taken by her to resolve the water crisis. Invoking the Hindu scriptures, she wrote in her letter: “It is written in our scriptures that there is no greater virtue than giving water to a thirsty person.”
She wrote in her letter, “In case I do not get water, I will have to do a satyagraha for water from 21st June and sit on an indefinite ‘Satyagraha’ (hunger strike). No matter how much pain my body suffers, I cannot bear the suffering of the people of Delhi anymore.”
Ms. Atishi told the media persons if by the 21st, the people of Delhi do not get the water of their right, if the people of Delhi do not get this 100 MGD water, if 28 lakh people in Delhi keep yearning for every drop of water like this, then from the 21st I will be forced to start a ‘Satyagraha’ for water. And I will sit on an indefinite fast from the 21st, until the people of Delhi get the water of their rights.
She further said that sitting on a hunger strike causes a lot of pain to the body, but at this moment the suffering of the people of Delhi is so much that the pain that my body will suffer is nothing in comparison to that. “So, I once again request the Prime Minister to ensure that the people of Delhi get their rightful share of water in the next two days, otherwise I will sit on an indefinite hunger strike from the 21st, the day after tomorrow,” concluded Water Minister Atishi.
