New Delhi: With only a week left for the crucial Delhi assembly polls, Yamuna’s water quality has apparently taken centerstage, with the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) locking swords over it.
‘Biological warfare’
Soon after releasing the AAP’s poll manifesto which underscored Yamuna clean-up as one of Kejriwal’s top guarantees, the former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal alleged that the BJP was deliberately polluting the city’s raw water supply, equating with it with “biological warfare” while warning it could result in mass casualties in the capital. Kejriwal pointed out that the BJP-led Haryana government added “poisonous” substance (ammonia) in the Yamuna river, which flows from Haryana into Delhi. He claimed that this was being done to create confusion and shift the blame to his government.
The AAP national convenor said that Delhi is facing a significant water shortage, requiring more than 3,000 million litres per day, while the usual supply is around 2,000 MLD. According to the AAP, the situation has been further aggravated by high ammonia levels.
Reacting sharply to the allegations, Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini said that AAP was trying to deflect the blame. Haryana’s Labour Minister Anil Vij dared Kejriwal to show the difference in water quality between the Yamuna entering Delhi and the water supplied within the city.
‘Biggest betrayal of people of Delhi’
Earlier on Saturday, BJP candidate from New Delhi, Parvesh Verma, immersed a cutout of his election opponent Kejriwal into the polluted waters of the Yamuna near ITO, criticising him for failing to clean the river. Verma accused the AAP government of failing to fulfill its promise of cleaning the Yamuna, despite being in power for 11 years and spending nearly Rs 8,000 crore. “This is the biggest betrayal of the people of Delhi,” Verma said.
The same day Union Minister Amit Shah reminded Kejriwal of his promise to clean the Yamuna and challenged him to take his ‘world-famous dip’ in the river. Shah added: “He promised he would purify the Yamuna River in 7 years and modify it just like London’s Thames River… He even said he would take a dip in the Yamuna in front of Delhiites. Arvind Kejriwal, the people of Delhi are waiting for your world-famous dip in the Yamuna.”
‘Factually incorrect, without basis, and misleading’
The Delhi Jal Board (DJB) was forced to jump into the controversy after Kejriwal’s “poison” remark. On Monday, its CEO Shilpa Shinde dismissed Kejriwal’s claim that the Haryana government had released “poison” into the river. Shinde, in a letter to Delhi Chief Secretary Dharmendra, rubbished the allegations as “factually incorrect, without basis, and misleading”. She underlined the potential damage such claims could cause to interstate relations and public trust. In her letter, Shinde clarified that the DJB consistently monitors water quality and adjusts its treatment processes as necessary.
The letter added: “During winter, ammonia levels in the Yamuna naturally increase due to reduced flow and the mixing of untreated sewage or industrial waste upstream. DJB’s water treatment plants are designed to handle ammonia levels up to 1 ppm and even higher concentrations, such as 6.5 ppm at present, through dilution with water from the Carrier Lined Channel and Delhi Sub-Branch.”
Shinde highlighted that the reduced water flow in winter aggravates the impact of untreated sewage upstream. However, she underlined that the Haryana government has started tackling the issue, including the installation of pipelines to comply with the National Green Tribunal’s directives.
