Amid the ongoing tussle between the AAP and the BJP over the water crisis, the Delhi Water Minister, Atishi, Wednesday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking his intervention to resolve the shortage of water, failing which she would go on an indefinite strike from Friday, June 21. In a press conference, Atishi said that Delhi’s 28 lakh people were not getting water and the PM “should get water for the people of Delhi, whether he gets it from Haryana or from anywhere”. Talking about going on an indefinite ‘Satyagraha (hunger strike)’ for water, the minister further wrote in her letter: “No matter how much pain my body suffers, I cannot bear the suffering of the people of Delhi anymore.” Pointing out that the temperature was rising to 47-48 degrees Celsius during the day and 40-41 degrees at night, she said, “The need for water also increases for every person.” Given that Delhi’s total water supply is 1,050 MGD (millions of gallons per day), out of which 613 MGD comes to the Yamuna from Haryana, Atishi said, “Delhi received only 513 MGD of water on Tuesday.” One MGD of water caters to nearly 28,500 people. And 100 MGD less water from Haryana means more than 28 lakh people are not receiving enough water, Atishi said. She also claimed that she has written letters to the Haryana CM, Nayab Singh Saini, but the state is yet to release Delhi's water share. In the press conference, Atishi said that although the HP CM, Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, agreed to give water to the Capital, Haryana “refused to give Himachal’s water as well”. Despite the Supreme Court acknowledging Delhi’s water crisis, the Haryana government turned down multiple requests from Delhi government’s senior officials and the Union Jal Shakti Minister, C R Paatil, also refused to meet our MLAs, Atishi said. Meanwhile, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said, "Every state has the right to seek help from the Prime Minister in times of crisis, but there is no water crisis in Delhi.” Claiming that Atishi’s letter addressed to the PM is false, Sachdeva said the Arvind Kejriwal government is, in fact, benefiting the water mafia. “While Atishi claims that only 2.8 million people are affected by the water crisis, the actual number of people suffering in Delhi is 32 million,” said the BJP president.
