AAP delegation meets L-G, seeks cooperation to resolve water crisis

New Delhi, June 23

A delegation of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) senior leaders, including Rajya Sabha MPs and MLAs, met Lieutenant-Governor (L-G) VK Saxena on Sunday to appeal for his intervention in the ongoing water crisis in the Capital.

Assuring the delegation that he would take up the matter with Haryana, the L-G noted that all states, not just Delhi, are affected by increasing population and heatwaves.

The Capital has been reeling under a water crisis since last month. Earlier this month, AAP leaders met the L-G seeking his intervention. The L-G had asked the AAP-led Delhi Government to end the blame game and work amicably with the Haryana Government.

After meeting with the L-G, Cabinet Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said, “We informed the L-G that there is a shortage of about 113 MGD of water coming from Haryana right now. Due to this, lakhs of people in Delhi are facing problems. Since the L-G is the representative of the Central Government, we sought his help.”

The delegation included Rajya Sabha MPs Sanjay Singh and ND Gupta, Bharadwaj and MLAs Dilip Pandey, Somnath Bharti, Rajesh Gupta and Rituraj Jha.

Bharadwaj further added that they told the L-G that Delhi is likely to witness rainfall next week since it has already started raining in Himachal Pradesh. “A lot of water will come next week that Haryana will not be able to stop, even if it wants to. So, now it is just a matter of a week. We have requested the L-G to try and get water from Haryana for Delhi for a week,” he said.

He also mentioned that the L-G assured them that he would talk to the Haryana Government and try to get Delhi its full share of water.

A Raj Niwas official said Saxena met with the AAP delegation on Sunday at the L-G Secretariat at noon. He added, “The L-G reiterated that the share of Yamuna water between Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and other neighbouring states had been fixed by the Upper Yamuna River Board and was up for renewal in 2025. This allocation had been upheld by the Supreme Court, most recently a week back.”

Saxena also emphasised that the Supreme Court’s advice for Delhi to approach Haryana for extra water on humanitarian grounds could only be realised in an atmosphere of cooperation and amicable dialogue, rather than through accusations and blame games in the media and on social media.

He remarked, “Not only Delhi but the population of all states has increased proportionately, and all states are equally affected by the heatwave.”

Saxena reminded AAP leaders of the Economic Survey 2023-24, which stated that unaccounted water was up to 54 per cent and that 40 per cent of water was wasted, underlining the need for the Delhi Government and the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) to address this. He reiterated that Delhi needs to augment its water storage capacity.

Officials said Saxena spoke to the Haryana Chief Minister on Sunday evening. “The Haryana CM has assured that he would seriously look into the matter and try to help tide over the situation to the farthest possible extent,” they said.