New Delhi: Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena assured an AAP delegation that met him here on Sunday over the water crisis in the city that he will try to resolve the issue.
During the meeting, the 10-member delegation highlighted that Delhi has been receiving 113 million gallons per day (MGD) less water than what it is entitled to, a statement said.
The delegation noted that Delhi's population increased from 1.1 crore in 1994 to three crore now while the amount of water it has been receiving remained the same and stressed for urgent action over the matter, it said.
The L-G assured the delegation of his commitment to resolving the issue and making every effort to ensure Delhi receives its fair share of water from Haryana, it said.
The delegation comprised 10 prominent AAP members, including Rajya Sabha MPs Sanjay Singh and N D Gupta, General Secretary Pankaj Gupta, Cabinet Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj, and MLAs Dilip Pandey, Somnath Bharti, Rajesh Gupta and Rituraj Jha.
Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said, "We told the L-G that Delhi is getting the same amount of water today as was allocated for it in 1994. Whereas in the 30 years since 1994, Delhi's population has increased three times."
"We told him that Rs 500 crore was spent on plugging leakages in canals while 12,000 kilometres of pipeline was laid in Delhi. The Delhi government has made a lot of efforts at its level. During this, LG has also given some suggestions on which an agreement to work together was reached," he said.
Delhi Cabinet Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said a delegation of AAP leaders met the L-G and held a positive discussion. "We told the L-G that there is a shortage of about 113 MGD in the water coming from Haryana right now. Due to this, lakhs of people in Delhi are facing problems.
"Since LG is the representative of the central government, we have requested him to talk to the Haryana government and get Delhi its full share of water. On this, he has assured us that he will talk to the Haryana government and try to get Delhi its full share of water," he said. The minister said they also told the L-G that it is likely to rain in a week.
"Rain has started 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 LG sir to get water from Haryana for Delhi for a week," he said. Delhi is dependent on Uttar Pradesh and Haryana for drinking water. The AAP has claimed that Haryana has reduced the water supply to the national capital from 613 MGD to 513 MGD.
