Delhi Minister Atishi writes to Union Minister Gajendra Shekhawat amid water crisis in Delhi

Amid the water crisis in the National Capital, Delhi Water Minister Atishi on Friday wrote a letter to Union Minister of Jal Shakti Gajendra Shekhawat seeking his urgent intervention in the matter. In her letter, Atishi said, "As you are aware, Delhi is heavily dependent on water from the Yamuna River to meet its day-to-day demand for water. However, in the last few days, there has been a drastic dip in the water levels at the Wazirabad Barrage as Haryana is not releasing the required amount of water in the Yamuna River. This has resulted in a massive crisis of water in the national capital. Moreover, the temperature in Delhi has touched almost 50 degrees. This has further intensified the demand for water putting an additional burden on the already strained demand-supply chain of potable drinking water in Delhi."

She also mentioned that if Haryana does not release adequate water, then plants in Delhi will not be able to function optimally. "If adequate water is not released by Haryana then our plants would not be able to function optimally. And if the water treatment plants do not function optimally, then Delhi will not be able to meet its demand-supply gap. This will have a serious and direct implication on the people living in the national capital. I have already written to Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini ji to appraise him of the issue. However, we are yet to receive a response from his office," Atishi said in her letter.

The Delhi Minister highlighted that they have formed on-ground teams to take immediate action against those who are found wasting water. "However, these standalone steps will not be sufficient to curtail water scarcity in the national capital. I am writing to request you to ensure that some provision of water is made for Delhi, be it from Haryana or UP or any other state that may be able to spare water, so that the people of Delhi don't suffer. We request your urgent intervention in the issue. The State of Haryana must immediately release Delhi's rightful share of water into the Yamuna River to bring the waters to the normal level of 674.5 feet," the letter to Shekhawat said.

Earlier on Friday, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal made an appeal to the centre and the BJP to urge the governments of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana to help Delhi meet its water demand.