NEW DELHI: Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Delhi Assembly, Atishi, on Saturday wrote to Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, raising serious concerns over the acute water shortage across the national capital.
In her letter, Atishi criticised the BJP-led Delhi government for its inaction and negligence, emphasising that the capital is on the brink of a humanitarian crisis, and urged the BJP government to urgently fulfil its basic responsibilities towards the people.
She appealed to CM Rekha Gupta to uphold democratic traditions and immediately convene a meeting with AAP MLAs to formulate a solution to the deepening water crisis. In the letter, Delhi Assembly LoP Atishi wrote: “I am writing this letter to you regarding the severe water crisis currently gripping the national capital, Delhi. It is only the month of May—summer’s true intensity is yet to arrive—but the people of Delhi are already tormented by an acute shortage of water.”
She further noted, “People across the city are distressed due to the lack of water. Women standing in queues in front of water tankers, children waiting with buckets and pitchers, families buying large bottles of drinking water from markets—these scenes are fast becoming the new identity of Delhi. Is this the vision of Delhi you had promised its citizens?”
Atishi added, “It is extremely unfortunate that despite having a four-engine BJP government—at the Centre, in the office of the LG, in the MCD, and now also in the CM’s chair—the people of Delhi have been left struggling for even basic necessities like water.”
On Saturday, residents of the Tank Road area in Karol Bagh, one of Delhi’s busiest commercial hubs, took to the streets in large numbers to protest the acute water shortage they’ve been facing for the past two months. Demonstrators blocked the road and staged a ‘Matka Phod’ protest, symbolically breaking earthen pots to express their frustration over the lack of water. The protest led to traffic congestion on both sides of the road. Meanwhile, two days ago, the National Green Tribunal pulled up the DJB for supplying non-potable water to residents of Janakpuri. Households in the area were allegedly supplied sewage-mixed drinking water.