Fireworks over Delhi water continues

New Delhi: As the fitness of Delhi's water continues to be in the limelight, Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Friday said that politics over the water issue should stop.

Kejriwal's statement comes on the day the AAP led Delhi government claimed that the water in the state was fit for drinking.

Over the last week, water quality has been in the spotlight with the BJP-led Central government and the AAP-led state government indulging in a blame game including accusing each other of "spreading lies and misleading people on the issue."

The tests conducted by the Delhi Jal Board, the results of which were made public on Friday, contradict the survey conducted by Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and released by union minister Ram Vilas Paswan.

Last week, Paswan released a Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) report according to which Delhi has the most unsafe water among 21 major Indian cities.

This led to a series of allegations being exchanged between leaders from the two parties.

Kejriwal said, "I don't want to do politics over the water issue. They (BJP and the Centre) are just playing dirty politics.

I want to request people that if there is any complaint about dirty water being supplied anywhere the Delhi government will address it. Since we have come to power, water issues have reduced from 2500 to 125."

"CM Arvind Kejriwal, during a press conference, confessed to his earlier claim that there is a problem of dirty water in Delhi.

We have also been saying from the beginning that there should be no politics on this, but try to resolve the problem as soon as possible so that Delhi gets clean water," Paswan said.

Delhi Jal Board (DJB) vice-chairman Dinesh Mohaniya said the DJB conducted surveys in the same locations mentioned in the BIS report and only one sample was found unsatisfactory.

"Strictly following the Standard of Procedure, we took water samples from nine places out of the 11 places from where BIS took the samples earlier.

We couldn't take sample from two places – union minister Ram Vilas Paswan's house and another house that was locked. Among the nine samples collected, eight including that of Krishi Bhawan found fit for drinking.

Only one sample taken from Geeta Devi's house at Janta Vihar found biologically not satisfactory due to inadequate residual chlorine i.e. just one parameter," Mohaniya said while addressing a press conference.