NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will hold protests in all 70 Assembly segments to corner the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government on the “water crisis” in the national capital. Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari on Thursday said that amid rising temperatures in the city, water supply had gone from bad to worse. He said that taking due note of the plight of people bearing the brunt of the water supply crunch, his party had decided to launch a series of protests.
“Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal does not seem serious about resolving the issue. He can’t hear the cries of people reeling under a water shortage. Such is the extent of the ongoing crisis that people are jostling around water tankers to meet their household needs. The people of Delhi had high hopes when they voted for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). However, Kejriwal is just issuing false statements on the issue,” Tiwari said.
Senior BJP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Vijay Goel challenged Kejriwal to an open debate on the issue.
Goel, who staged an overnight dharna at the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) office, slammed the Board for failing to supply water to people in the city.
Refuting charges levelled by DJB vice chairman and AAP MLA Dinesh Mohaniya, who had alleged that BJP protesters vandalised the Board headquarters on Tuesday night, Goel said, “The reality is that half of Delhi is facing an acute water crisis and the Kejriwal government is sleeping. Mohaniya is lying. The truth is that DJB officials failed to come up with any reply to our complaint.”
Goel, Delhi BJP vice president and DJB member Jai Prakash, party MLA OP Sharma and several other BJP workers held a protest at the Board’s office on Tuesday night.“We were given a written assurance by the DJB CEO and a member of the board that the issues we raised will be examined and action will be taken. Mohaniya is lying. The DJB has failed in its duty to supply water, especially in unauthorised colonies,” Goel said at a press conference.
The BJP leader claimed that the people were falling sick after being forced to consume impure water.
However, AAP leaders, including Raghav Chadha and Mohaniya, acused the Delhi BJP of creating a drama over the issue in view of the Assembly polls due early next year. They said 85 per cent of the city was receiving water.