Haryana govt “deliberately”, “illegally” halting water supplies to Delhi: Atishi

New Delhi: Delhi Water Minister Atishi on Tuesday slammed the Haryana government and alleged that it was “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 the city because of which Delhi is unable to meet the daily water requirement. 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 water to Delhi.

Their affidavit filed in the Supreme Court presents the data on actual discharge of water which has exposed their lie.” According to the affidavit, from May 23 ahead of the elections in Delhi, the water quantities released was reduced by the Haryana government, she alleged. “The figures of the affidavit given by the Haryana government in the Supreme Court show that from May 1 to 22, Haryana is releasing 719 cusecs of water in CLC and 330 cusecs of water in DSB through Munak canal. That means 1049 cusecs of water was 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,” said Atishi. “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 stated 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 also said that she will write a letter to Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini regarding this and also approach the Supreme Court to present before it 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.