Delhi LG Assures AAP Delegation Of Efforts To Resolve Water Crisis, Emphasises Cooperation Over Blame

Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena assured an AAP delegation to address the water crisis in Delhi. He stated that cooperation is needed instead of blame-shifting.

File photo of Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena.

Source : PTI

Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena assured an AAP delegation on Sunday that he would work to address the water crisis in the national capital, emphasising that cooperation is needed instead of blame-shifting.

Raj Niwas officials reported that the MPs and MLAs who meet with Saxena requested him to ask the Haryana Government for additional water until the rains arrive.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) outlined that the delegation pointed out a 113 million gallons per day (MGD) water shortfall from Haryana to Delhi, and Saxena promised to solve the issue, as per the PTI report.

An official from Raj Niwas highlighted that Saxena reminded the delegation that the water distribution of the Yamuna between Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and other neighboring states is determined by the Upper Yamuna River Board and is due for renewal in 2025.

Saxena contacted the Haryana CM, who assured him that efforts would be made to alleviate the situation as much as possible.

L-G stressed that following the Supreme Court's suggestion for Delhi to request additional water from Haryana on humanitarian grounds would only be successful through cooperation and constructive dialogue rather than accusations and blame games, the official said, PTI reported.

'All States, Including Delhi Experiencing Population Growth And Heatwave:' L-G

The Lieutenant Governor also noted that all states, including Delhi, are experiencing population growth and are equally affected by the heatwave.

Saxena reiterated findings from the Delhi government's Economic Survey, which indicated that 54 per cent of water is unaccounted for and 40 per cent is wasted. He emphasised that the Delhi government and Delhi Jal Board should address these issues.

He assured the AAP delegation that Delhi needs to enhance its water storage capacity and promised to discuss the water release issue with the Haryana chief minister on humanitarian grounds, the Raj Niwas official said.

The AAP delegation, including Rajya Sabha MPs Sanjay Singh and N D Gupta, Cabinet Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj, and MLAs Dilip Pandey, Somnath Bharti, Rajesh Gupta, and Rituraj Jha, highlighted the 113 MGD water shortfall from Haryana, the official also said.

On lakhs of people facing water crisis in Delhi, Saurabh Bharadwaj said "We informed the L-G that there is a shortage of about 113 MGD of water from Haryana right now. Due to this, lakhs of people in Delhi are facing problems."

"Since L-G is the representative of the central government, we have requested L-G to talk to the Haryana government and get Delhi its full share of water. On this, L-G V K Saxena has assured us that he will talk to the Haryana government and try to get Delhi its full share of water," Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said.

He stated that they also conveyed to the L-G that it would rain in a week. "It has started raining in Himachal Pradesh. So much water will come in the next week that Haryana will not be able to stop it 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," Bharadwaj said, PTI reported.