Stop Politicising Water: Kejriwal Slams Centre Over BIS Survey

Delhi chief minister said that his government’s priority is to provide clean water to the people of Delhi, he said.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

(Photo: PTI)

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday said he is not interested in politics over the water issue, days after a Bureau of Indian Standards report stated that the city's water failed quality test.

Talking to reporters in New Delhi, the chief minister said that his government's priority is to provide clean water to the people of Delhi.

“Let us stop politics over this. We will give you data on how many kilometers of pipelines have been laid in the past five years.”

Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi CM

Amid the clean water controversy, the Delhi Jal Board on Friday, 22 November, waived development and infrastructure charges for new water and sewer connections.

Kejriwal said that Delhiites will now have to pay just Rs 2,310 to get new water and sewer connections.

BJP Protests Near Kejriwal’s House

Carrying water samples from various parts of Delhi, BJP members staged a protest near Kejriwal's residence on Thursday, 21 November, days after a report said water in the national capital was “most unsafe.”

Leading the protest, Delhi BJP chief, Manoj Tiwari alleged Kejriwal was "forcing" people to drink "polluted" water in the name of free supply. He also claimed that despite Kejriwal’s promise of providing safe water to the people of Delhi since 2015, they were getting "poisonous" water.

The BJP protesters, including former Delhi BJP presidents, Vijender Gupta, Satish Upadhyay and party general secretary Kuljeet Chahal, however could not hand over the water samples, collected from 500 places across the city, to the chief minister.

According to a Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) report released by Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan on November 16, all water samples collected from Delhi failed quality tests.

The ruling AAP and the BJP are engaged in a row over the quality of water in Delhi.