Water woes: Delhi LG accuses Atishi of using death of woman for pol gains

Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena on Tuesday wrote an open letter to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, expressing displeasure over Water Minister Atishi's letter to him alleging that she has chosen to use an unfortunate death of a woman for narrow political gains. LG in his letter to Kejriwal alleged that the minister drew a conclusion based on news reports and resorted to blame game, where she had underlined inadequate water supply as the cause behind the incident, despite the police still probing the circumstances of the tragic death. The LG termed her note addressed to him as a prima facie admission of guilt, inaction and inefficiency over the past ten years. He pointed out that the unfortunate incident was not the only such case of its kind in Delhi, but many such incidents happened in the past due to the government's failure, he claimed. Mentioning that the water minister has again targeted the Chief Secretary who is also DJB CEO and officers of Finance and UD, the LG alleged that the Delhi ministers have time and again blamed officers for their own failures in different situations. The LG further highlighted facts brought in the economic survey 2023- 24 tabled by Finance Minister, and informed CM that water treatment over the last decade grew marginally from 906 MGD to 946 MGD, which was barely 4.4 per cent increase, while during the same period Delhi's population has significantly grown by 15 per cent, LG added. He mentioned that of the total water supplied, 120 MGD comes from the ground water, which he claimed was exaggeration, adding that out of the 16 Ranney Wells, five are non functional. LG in his open letter to CM also mentioned that water leakages through transmission and distribution losses, theft and other factors have seen a sharp spike from 45 per cent in 2015 to 58 per cent in 2022- 23. Net water availability over the last decade has decreased by more than 100 MGD due to criminal neglect by the Delhi government, LG alleged. The LG has also claimed in his letter to CM that the rich are getting an abundant supply of water which is nearly 35 buckets per person, while poor colonies' water supply is less than 50 litre per person on a daily basis. He also said he was dismayed and disturbed while addressing budget session where his speech approved by the CM mentioned that 7 percent of households in the city do not receive piped water supply, which also is a gross understatement of the problem, Saxena claimed, adding that during his visits to slums and unauthorised colonies and rural areas it was evident that the magnitude was far greater, he added, further questioning as to whether this was the world class city which the Delhi government has been promising the citizens since a decade. LG also questioned and pointed that instead of fixing the water supply issues, CM and his ministers created a chimera of free water, alleging that deception of people was mastered by the ministers. He further expressed that in the present circumstances CM would not be able to do much about the situation, except to reflect and introspect.