New Delhi [India], June 11 : Amid the water crisis in the national capital during heatwaves and rising temperatures, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Delhi Minister Atishi on Tuesday claimed that neighbouring Haryana is releasing less water into the canals of Delhi and the AAP government would approach the Supreme Court again in the matter.
Addressing the media here in the national capital, Atishi said, "As per the directions of the Upper Yamuna River Board, Haryana had to release 1,050 cusecs of water into the Munak canal. But for the past few days, there has been less supply of water into the Munak canal. Haryana was lying that it had released 1,050 cusecs of water. In its affidavit filed with the top court, they have provided data relating to the release of water into the Munak canal which is further diverged into two routes namely CLC (Carrier Line Channel) and DSB (Delhi Sub-Branch). Accordingly, from May 1 to 22, they only released 719 cusecs of water into the CLC and 320 cusecs into the DSB. This means that they had been releasing 1,049 cusecs of water from May 1 to 25."
"From May 23, it started decreasing. The Lok Sabha polls in Delhi were held on May 25. Before that, they decreased the water supply. But now, their lies have been busted. We will submit this data to the Supreme Court. We have also filed an additional affidavit with the apex court and told them how the Haryana government disobeyed it. We will reach the top court regarding the matter. We will also write to the Haryana Chief Minister", she added.
The Delhi minister further said that the "lies" of the Haryana government have been "busted" through its affidavit filed with the apex court.
"The water treatment plants present in Delhi are not able to work up to their full capacity. Whenever we write to the Haryana government, they keep saying that they are releasing water towards Delhi. So where does the water go? But now their lies have been busted by their affidavit filed with the Supreme Court. The Delhi government knocked on the doors of the top court, it said that the national capital requires water. The Himachal Pradesh government agreed to supply water to Delhi; Haryana only had to give a pass-through. But it stood against that", Atishi said.
"Now, since the matter reached the Supreme Court, the water level of the Wazirabad barrage has been declining", she further claimed.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Monday adjourned for June 12 the hearing of the Delhi government's plea for the release of surplus water from Himachal Pradesh as the people of the national capital are facing a shortage of water.
On the last day of the hearing on June 6, the top court allowed the State of Himachal Pradesh to release 137 cusecs of surplus water available with it and directed the Haryana government to facilitate the flow of the surplus water from Hathnikund barrage to Wazirabad uninterruptedly to Delhi to mitigate the drinking water crisis in the national capital.
Amid the water shortage in the national capital, the Delhi government approached the Supreme Court to get immediate additional water. The Himachal government had agreed to give surplus water to Delhi.