Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his intervention in ensuring sufficient water supply from Haryana as the national Capital stares at a possible water crisis next week.
He also wrote to Lieutenant-Governor Anil Baijal over the issue, who said that the CM “should have discussed the matter earlier” with him given its “importance, rather than spending time in dharnas without reason”.
In his letter to Mr. Modi, Mr. Kejriwal said the city had been receiving 1,133 cusecs of water from Haryana since 1996 but, recently, had contested Delhi’s right over this water and partially stopped the supply.
The CM said that the disruption in water supply from Haryana could affect the Chandrawal water treatment plan, which supplies water to the New Delhi Municipal Council area where the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament, embassies and railway station are located.
“The Supreme Court has directed Haryana to keep supplying the earlier quantity of water till May 21, which means the State could reduce water supply after Monday,” he said, adding that if that happens, it would create an “unprecedented shortage of water” in Delhi and could lead to a “serious” law and order situation.
“I urge you [PM Modi] to kindly use your good offices to persuade Haryana to continue supplying same level of water that it has been supplying for the last 22 years and not to disrupt it till the issue is finally decided by the courts,” Mr. Kejriwal said.
In a letter to Mr. Baijal, Mr. Kejriwal said: “Just two days are left, we need to act fast to prevent a crisis.”
In a reply, Mr. Baijal told Mr. Kejriwal that he had taken up the issue with different agencies to ensure adequate water supply in Delhi.
“I have taken up the matter with Govt. of Haryana and Union Ministry of Water Resources, Govt. of India so that adequate water supply is ensured for people of Delhi - Hon’ble CM @ArvindKejriwal,” Mr. Baijal tweeted in response.
L-G slams Kejriwal
In addition to the tweet, a statement issued by Raj Niwas quoted the L-G saying, “Given the importance and complexity of the issue, the CM should have met and discussed the matter with him earlier... rather than spending time on ‘dharnas without reason’ and now sending frantic letters and messages... when the matter has escalated to a critical stage.”
The statement further said that the L-G observed that the manner in which “all the letters” sent by the Chief Minister “are released on social media even before reaching his office, betrays an attempt to sensationalise the issue rather than seriously resolve it.”
