NEW DELHI: A recent remark made by Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on water shortage in the national capital has drawn sharp reactions from both the Opposition and the public.
Discussing the crisis in the city, Gupta had said at a public event, “The heatwave led to the water shortage, which has caused inconvenience (to the public). On top of that, the water that is channelled gets evaporated, adding to shortage.” A video of her making the comment has since gone viral.
Taking potshots at the CM, AAP posted a video to it’s X handle that showed waterlogging in parts of Delhi, writing: “Madam, please get this road water to evaporate, too.”
Congress leader Supriya Shrinate also chimed in, sharply writing on X, “There is a water crisis in Delhi, and these are the thoughts of its Chief Minister—God save us! The BJP is full of such gems.”
Saffron party leader Shehzad Poonawalla jumped to Gupta’s defence, alleging an attempt by the Opposition to craft what he said was a “false narrative.”
Notably, this is not the first time that Gupta has made a claim that sparked a volley of criticism and ridicule. Last month, while addressing the Exhibition of Innovative Technological Solutions, Gupta had mused, “It’s usually trees like the safeda, kikar and babool that are generally found on the roadsides of Delhi; these trees do not give us oxygen.”
Sharing a clip of her now infamous remark on Instagram, former Delhi minister and AAP leader Saurabh Bhardwaj wrote, “CM Rekha Gupta strikes again. She says safeda, babool and keekar trees don’t give oxygen. And the BJP says she will fix pollution in Delhi.”
While speaking at a leadership summit organised by a media house in December last year, Gupta was asked about the government’s response to air pollution and tools to measure the AQI. To that, she had famously responded, “Tell me, what is a hotspot? A hotspot is where there’s the most pollution. Right? What’s the solution? You spray there, you water it. You work to improve the soil. So, you’ll spray only on the hotspot. Does using a monitor bring down the AQI? AQI is like a temperature which you can know from any instrument, so watering it is the only solution which we are also doing.”
Gupta’s remarks on pollution had prompted a response from her AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal, who promptly took to X, expressing, “The Chief Minister has at least admitted that wherever AQI monitors are installed, water spraying is being done right there so that the truth about pollution doesn’t reach the people of Delhi. In other words, a game is afoot to hide the data and show clean air. When did this new science arrive that AQI has now become temperature?”