Water crisis: AAP-BJP blame game rages on, city reels under shortage amid severe heat

New Delhi: The politics over the water shortage in Delhi intensified on Monday as the ruling AAP accused the BJP of "deliberately creating" the situation to trouble the people, even as the BJP held 'matka phod' protests blaming the Kejriwal government for the crisis.

The national capital has been reeling under a severe water crisis for weeks now with little to no supply amid searing heatwave conditions, with the shortage being met by private water tankers.

At a press conference here, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh alleged that the crisis has been "deliberately created" by the BJP to keep the people of the city thirsty.

"For the last several days, there has been a BJP-sponsored water crisis. I want to tell you that BJP people want that the people of Delhi should not get water and for this, they are trying their best to put Delhi in a water crisis...," the AAP leader alleged.

Singh accused the BJP of working to deepen the crisis and shared data on the decline in water production from June 6 to June 13.

On June 6, the water production in Delhi was 1,002 MGD, which declined to 939 MGD by June 13.

"The production of water is decreasing in Delhi because we are not getting sufficient water from Haryana and this has resulted in a water crisis," Singh added.

Delhi Water Minister Atishi again pleaded with Haryana to release Delhi's share of water. She visited the Wazirabad barrage and stressed that water was not being released by Haryana which has led to a decline in the water level to such an extent that the river bed was visible.

"Water comes to the Wazirabad barrage from Haryana and then goes to our water plants. You can see that no water is coming here in this pond. If there is no water, then how will water go to the treatment plants? I appeal to the Haryana government to release water," she told reporters during her visit.

Lashing out at AAP, Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva said although the government's job was to solve problems, the government in Delhi has itself become a problem.

"Whether it is Water Minister Atishi or MP Sanjay Singh, instead of fulfilling their responsibilities and addressing water leakage and theft, they hold press conferences on their self-created artificial water crisis just to stay in the news," he said.

Earlier Monday, Delhi BJP leaders and MPs, along with party workers, held demonstrations across the national capital, slamming the AAP government over the water crisis.

Carrying bottles of dirty water, the BJP protesters raised slogans against the AAP government and smashed 'matkas' (earthen pitchers) as a mark of protest over water scarcity in the national capital.

They also alleged that people were falling sick as they were being forced to drink dirty water.

The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has warned residents in its area of the decreased supply from the Delhi Jal Board.

It said the reduced supply can affect many posh areas such as Bengali Market, Ashoka Road, HC Mathur Lane, Copernicus Marg, Purana Quila Road, Babar Road, Barakhamba Road, K G Marg, Windsor Place, Firozshah Marg, Canning Lane and surrounding areas which house key buildings.

"As informed by DJB, the production of potable water from the Wazirabad water plant is not running at full capacity due to the non-availability of raw water. Hence, water supply in the command area of Tilak Marg underground water reservoir (UGR) and Bengali Market UGR will be made available once a day, preferably in the morning," an NDMC official said.

There is a 40 per cent shortage in supply from the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) in the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) area, he added.