NEW DELHI: A major factor which pitch-forked the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) into power in 2015 now threatens to ‘wash out’ the Arvind Kejriwal government in the national capital. In the summer of 2019, the ruling party now faces attacks from the opposition parties almost daily as temperature soars in Delhi.
Though the Delhi government claims that water supply is at its highest ever capacity, reports from the ground show otherwise. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who heads the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), has taken on himself to connect with the people on the ground to get a first-hand account of water woes.
The gap between demand and supply of water is growing. As against the requirement of 1,140 Million Gallons per Day (MGD), the DJB delivers 936 MGD — a deficit of 204 MGD — impacting lakhs of people daily. Deoli, Tughlakhabad, Aya Nagar, Sangam Vihar, Mahipalpur, Ambedkar Nagar are among the most water-deficit areas in Delhi.
The city government is dispatching tankers, which are eagerly awaited by scores of women for their daily stock of water in these areas.“BJP is only indulging in politics. They held DJB officials hostage and threatened them. DJB is working at its 150 per cent capacity and the areas from where we are getting complaints they are being addressed quickly. The Delhi government since coming to power has laid water pipelines in 600 unauthorised colonies and water supply is on at many places,” said DJB vice-chairman Dinesh Mohaniya.
But, BJP leaders are holding protests at locations affected by the water scarcity. On Tuesday, BJP leader Vijay Goel camped inside the DJB office till early morning, demanding swift action on the complaints of the public. “The Kejriwal government does not care for the people and is merely fooling the public. It is a matter of disgrace that the residents of the capital of India are unable to get even basic amenity like water,” said Goel.
The BJP leader demanded the sacking of DJB CEO Nikhil Kumar and a task force to be set up for addressing the problem of contaminated water and a summer action plan. The DJB, however, stated that it has released the summer action plan which was effectively being implemented.
“The BJP’s concern is that the Arvind Kejriwal government has been cracking down on illegal private water supply and the tanker mafia, which runs with direct support of the BJP and the Congress for the last decades,” said AAP spokesperson Raghav Chadha.
“The only reason the ‘drama company’ is in action is because Manoj Tiwari, Vijay Goel and Vijendra Gupta are in a power tussle within the BJP to become their chief ministerial face,” he claimed.
