Bansuri Swaraj on Delhi water crisis: Coming down heavily on the Delhi government over the water crisis in the national capital, the newly-elected BJP MP from New Delhi Bansuri Swaraj said that the AAP ministers are busy holding press conferences rather than working on the ground and solving problems. The Supreme Court on Wednesday slammed the AAP government over the role of tanker mafia in the water crisis in the national capital.
Addressing a presser, Bansuri Swaraj said, "The Delhi Jal Board (DJB) was in Rs 600 crore profit and in just a decade under the Kejriwal government, it is now in loss of Rs 73,000 crore. The entire infrastructure, pipelines, water storage system of the DJB are in shambles." She added, "SC came down heavily on the AAP for making false statements in court. Haryana is releasing the adequate amount of water. It is only the AAP that is not paying attention to the desiccating infrastructure of the Delhi Jal Board. They have been in power in Delhi for now a decade and they have not paid attention at all to fixing the pipelines or improving the infrastructure. It appears that the AAP is in cahoots with the illegal tanker mafia that is operating in Delhi and the SC even asked them what is it that they are doing on it. Today they returned empty-handed from SC. SC said that AAP has once again suppressed the fact that they had already approached the Yamuna Jal Board and therefore the Supreme Court asked them to go and agitate their petition before 5 PM today before the Yamuna Jal Board..."
Criticising the lackadaisical approach of Delhi ministers, Swaraj said, "The Delhi minister will only know the ground reality and solve problems if she done with her press conferences." She added, "In March, IMD had predicted that Delhi will face scorching heat. Delhi Minister Atishi and AAP government should have taken some steps with regard to it. An all-party meeting should have been called, attention should have been paid to the infrastructure of the Delhi Jal Board and pipes repaired but they did not do anything."
After the Supreme Court's observations, the Lieutenant Governor Secretariat wrote to the Delhi Police Commissioner, asking him to take action against the tanker mafia indulging in the theft of water from the Munak canal that carries water from Haryana.
Seeking a compliance report within a week, the LG's communication to the police commissioner directed him to ensure strict vigil along the canal to prevent any theft of water by tanker mafia and other illegal activities. The court told the Delhi government it will ask the city police to take action against the tanker mafia if it can't deal with them. If the same water can be transported using tankers, why can't it be supplied through the pipeline, a disquieted court said. "There are visuals on every channel that the tanker mafia is working in Delhi. What measures have you taken in this regard?. What measures have you taken to control water waste coming through the two barrages if this is a recurring problem? Please show us what action or FIR have you lodged against tanker mafias," the bench observed orally.
