Amid an escalating water crisis in the national capital, Delhi minister Atishi has written to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and his Haryana counterpart Nayab Singh Saini urging them to release additional water to the state for a month.
Atishi, who has the water portfolio, emphasised that Delhi is facing an unprecedented water crisis this year, with severe heatwaves raising the water demand significantly.
Water crisis worsened amid rising temperature
"With temperature touching almost 50 degrees Celsius, Delhi is stretched out to the maximum as far as its water resources are concerned. To tackle the existing crisis, we urgently need Haryana to release additional water into the Yamuna River at the earliest," she wrote in her letter to the Haryana CM on May 31.
The minister also underscored that the water level at the Wazirabad barrage currently stands at 670.3 feet, which is about 4 feet below the normal level of 674.50 feet.
"This reduction in water level has adversely affected the water production capacity of our water treatment plants. However, to cater to the demands of people living in Delhi, we urgently need water in Yamuna to meet our day-to-day requirements," the letter read.
Letter to CM yogi
In a similar letter to the UP CM Yogi Adityanath, the Delhi Minister stressed the severity of the heatwave and the need for assistance to tackle the mounting crisis.
In her letter, Atishi said, "Sir, through this letter I wish to appeal to you to kindly consider our request and provide additional water to Delhi for the next one month so that people living in Delhi can comfortably surpass this peak summer.”
'The Delhi government and people living in the national capital will be anxiously waiting for a positive response," the letter added.
Delhi BJP chief reacts
Meanwhile, Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva accused Atishi of "playing politics in the name of water crisis.
He alleged that Delhi has no shortage of raw water as both Haryana and Uttarakhand are releasing excess water daily and it can be verified from the record of Delhi Jal Board.
He called upon Atishi to stop writing "politically motivated letters" to Chief Ministers of BJP-ruled states of Haryana and UP. He advised Atishi to work on cleaning silt from water ponds and plants instead, along with stopping water wastage and theft to end the water crisis in Delhi.
(With PTI Inputs)
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