The recent BIS report which said Delhi’s water quality failed quality tests was “fabricated” to benefit manufacturers of reverse osmosis (RO) purifiers, the Aam Aadmi Party said on Friday. The party also asked what connection does Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan have with these companies.

AAP national spokesperson Raghav Chadha claimed that the report was presented to create an atmosphere in favour of the RO companies and alleged that a false report was created.

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On November 16, the Central government released a study on quality of piped drinking water being supplied in 21 cities across the country, including Delhi, with the tap water here termed “undrinkable”.

Member of Rajya Sabha from Delhi Sanjay Singh on Thursday countered the report and said Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Ram Vilas Paswan has lied and misused his post and is not “eligible” to be a Minister.

“By misusing his ministerial position, Paswan has proved that he is not eligible to become a minister, he should resign from his post and apologize to the people of Delhi for spreading lies,” Singh told the media.

Today, during the winter session in Rajya Sabha, the quality of Delhi water became a bone of contention for the BJP and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as members of both the parties clashed in the upper house today over the quality of water being piped to households in the national capital, prompting an angry response from Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu who asked members to maintain decorum.

As BJP’s Vijay Goel was was making his submission during the Zero Hour on the quality of water in Delhi, and began speaking on the “poor quality and unsafe water” in Delhi, AAP’s Sanjay Singh started countering him with raised voice.

In his Zero Hour submission on Friday, Goel said quality of water supplied in Delhi is a matter of concern as most households either use ROs to filter it or consume bottled water.

“Delhi needs 3,800 million litres of water a day but in absence of adequate supplies, residents have to depend on borewells to serve their needs. As much as 40 per cent of the water piped in the city is being wasted during transmission due to leakage and theft, he said, adding 25 per cent of the habitation particularly unauthorised colonies had no water pipelines. Sale of air purifiers and ROs in Delhi would bear testimony to the quality of water and air in the national capital,” he said.

Earlier, reacting to it, the ruling Aam Aadmi Party said BJP’s Central Government is “stooping too low by doing politics on water quality after they failed miserably in controlling air pollution in entire northern India”.