The BJP and the Congress on Friday held a demonstration outside the residence of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to protest against water shortage in the Capital.
The police stopped workers of both parties on their way towards the Chief Minister’s residence.
Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta said the Delhi government, which came to power with the promise to finish the tanker mafia in the city, is now minting money in connivance with them. He alleged that piped water supply is not being given in Delhi colonies so that “the tanker mafia could flourish”.
Delhi Congress chief Ch. Anil Kumar alleged that for the past two months, Delhiites have been facing a severe water shortage but Mr. Kejriwal has been touring other States, promising “free power and water”.
Mr. Kumar accused him of not being able to address the water shortage in Delhi for the past seven years.
“As an election stunt, AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal had given a fake assurance of providing 20,000 litres of free water to the people, though he was aware of the fact that the land-locked Delhi has to depend on neighbouring States like Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh for their water requirement. Hence, it would be impossible to give free water as Delhi gets less water than its needs,” Mr. Kumar said.
He added that when Congress was in power in Delhi, then Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit would take decisions well in advance, including interaction with her counterparts in U.P. and Haryana, so as to ensure that people were not subjected to water crisis during the hot summer months.
‘No permanent solution’
“Mr. Kejriwal has not bothered to find a permanent solution to the water shortage of Delhi in the past seven years despite being in power. How is he going to other States and promising free water and power when has not been able to do it in Delhi,” the Delhi Congress chief said.
