Pb govt indulging in ‘dirty politics’ by stopping water supply in Delhi: Min
New Delhi: The BJP government in Delhi on Thursday accused the AAP-ruled Punjab of indulging in “dirty politics” by allegedly stopping water supply in Delhi joining the ongoing war of words between Haryana and Punjab over sharing river water.
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had accused the BJP of exerting pressure on the Punjab government through the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) to meet Haryana’s demands and stated that the neighbouring state had already exhausted its water share by March. Delhi Water minister Parvesh Verma in a post on X accused the AAP-ruled Punjab government of indulging in “dirty politics” by allegedly stopping Yamuna water to Haryana and Delhi.
“The Punjab government has resorted to dirty politics by stopping the water supply to Haryana and Delhi. After losing in Delhi, now they want to create water crisis in Delhi”, Verma said in his post.
However, Delhi Jal Board ( DJB) officials said that as of Thursday water supply is maintained at normal.
“We are working day and night to provide clean water to every household in Delhi and now the Punjab government wants to take revenge on the people of Delhi in this way. Stop this dirty politics or else you will be expelled from Punjab as well,” Verma said.
Delhi AAP president Saurabh Bharadwaj accused the BJP of lying on the issue and said, “Central government has stopped the flow of Indus river water to Pakistan-clearly, India has no shortage. If even one per cent of that water is allocated to Delhi, the city’s water crisis can be resolved instantly.”
He claimed that the Punjab government has not stopped water for Delhi or Haryana rather the BJP is resorting to “hooliganism” to snatch away Punjab’s rightful share of water.
“BJP lies every day & gets exposed every day. Its Delhi government minister is now claiming Punjab has stopped Delhi’s water supply even though neither Yamuna nor Ganga flows through Punjab,” he said.
According to DJB officials, some raw water in Haryana gets through the Narwana canal from Bhakra Nangal dam which regulates water supply to Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi.
“Some of this water is further transferred to Munak canal which originates from Haryana and ends in Haiderpur, Delhi. As of now, the raw water supply is maintained at normal,” a DJB official said.
Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini said that he informed Mann on April 26, about the reluctance of Punjab officials to implement the decision taken by BBMB’s Technical Committee to release water to Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and Rajasthan. Saini citing his letter to Mann said that instead of responding to it the Punjab chief minister released a video and tried to mislead people by disregarding the facts.
In the past, the AAP government in Delhi had accused Haryana of stopping the Yamuna water supply. Every year during the summer season the water demand in the city increases.
