NEW DELHI: The BJP on Tuesday hit out at the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), saying the ammonia level in raw water in the Yamuna “never rose to 6.5 ppm” as alleged in the recent past, and accused the party of creating panic in Delhi with “ulterior political motives”.
Earlier, AAP had claimed that the city’s water treatment plants failed to filter water because Haryana’s industrial waste had entered Delhi’s freshwater supply.
Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva said it was “regrettable” that AAP leader Saurabh Bhardwaj was “misleading Delhiites” by alleging that the city’s water treatment plants had failed and that Delhi was facing a water crisis due to high contamination levels. “There is no water shortage in Delhi, and the water treatment plants are regularly treating and supplying over 1,000 MGD of drinking water every day,” he added.
“Ammonia level in raw water in the Yamuna never rose to 6.5 ppm as alleged by Saurabh Bhardwaj, and it seems he is simply trying to create a panic situation in Delhi with ulterior political motives. Nor have water treatment plants been shut down. The drains that carry waste have no connection with the raw water passed on by Haryana to Delhi via the Yamuna river or canal,” he said.
AAP, however, reiterated its charge that Haryana was responsible for contaminating Delhi’s freshwater. The party pointed to fresh concerns raised after the National Green Tribunal (NGT) questioned whether Haryana’s Diversion Drain No. 6 — now found carrying sewage into DD-8 — was a genuine stormwater drain.
AAP said Delhi’s Water Treatment Plants (WTPs) failed because Haryana allowed industrial waste into the capital’s freshwater, spiking ammonia to “poisonous” levels, exactly as former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had warned.
Sharing a news report on the NGT’s demand for clarity from the Haryana Government, the AAP Delhi State President wrote on X: “This is exactly what Arvind Kejriwal said about Yamuna water contamination. Delhi’s Water Treatment Plants failed to filter water because Haryana’s industrial waste entered fresh water of Delhi. Industrial waste increased ammonia levels in water, making it poisonous. Earlier, BJP and its LG called it false propaganda by AAP. Haryana Government had registered an FIR against Arvind Kejriwal.”
“Today, it is acknowledged in the NGT that sewage waste and industrial waste from Haryana’s Drain No. 6 contaminate Delhi’s freshwater. The Lieutenant Governor and BJP must answer now,” the post concluded.
Bhardwaj also shared an old video on X from the AAP government’s tenure, in which he explains that water reaching Delhi from Haryana’s Tajewala was severely compromised due to large-scale sand mining.