Fresh row brewing between LG, AAP over ‘water crisis’

NEW DELHI: Water supply in Delhi became the latest flashpoint in the ongoing feud between lieutenant governor VK Saxena and the Aam Aadmi Party, with the LG flagging “water scarcity” in the city and attributing it to the “failure” of the state government, while the AAP said the communique was an “unfortunate missive” that was “intended for optics”.

On Saturday, a 15-year-old girl stabbed to death her 34-year-old neighbour in Farsh Bazar, Shahdara following a fight over the order of filling water from a common tap. The following day, AAP leader Atishi wrote to Saxena, demanding the suspension of the Delhi Jal Board CEO and disciplinary action against officials with the water utility.

Weighing in on the matter, Saxena on Tuesday wrote an open letter to chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, holding the Delhi government responsible for a water supply crisis in the Capital. The LG said that the open letter was required since direct communication with Kejriwal — currently lodged in Tihar jail — is not possible.

“This unfortunate incident is not the only such case in Delhi, but many such incidents over water scarcity have happened in the past primarily due to the failure of the government. Such instances have become a recurrent phenomenon year after year and have been widely reported over the last ten years. Water woes in the Capital, especially in settlements where the poor live, have exacerbated over the last decade,” he wrote, calling Atishi’s statement about inadequate water supply as the cause of the Farsh Bazar incident “a prima facie admission of guilt, inaction, and inefficiency”.

In response, Atishi, the water minister, said the LG’S letter was aimed at the “beratement of elected government”.

“The LG’S letter has come only in response to the demand to suspend an officer who has repeatedly refused to carry duties which would have averted the crisis the Capital faces this summer. The crisis has been artificially created… LG has the power to change the CEO,” she wrote.

DJB officials did not respond to queries for comment.