On Wednesday, June 12, the Supreme Court came down heavily on the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP government in Delhi on the water crisis in the national capital. The apex court said the Delhi government has failed to take any action despite the functioning of the ‘tanker mafia’ in the capital. Further, in a stern remark, the SC said that if the Delhi government can’t take action then the court can ask the Delhi police to intervene.
Delhi water crisis | Supreme Court questions over tanker mafia and asks Delhi Govt if any measure or action has been taken against tanker mafia.
— ANI (@ANI) June 12, 2024
Supreme Court remarks if you are not taking any action against the tanker mafia then we will ask Delhi Police to take action against… pic.twitter.com/ORFwr44Wuo
“Delhi tanker mafia is working, and you are not taking action and if the Delhi government can’t take action, then we can ask Delhi police to take action,” the Supreme Court said.
A vacation bench of Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and Prasanna B Varale ordered the AAP Government should file an affidavit by 4 PM today and explain measures taken to tackle the water mafia and prevent water wastage in Delhi.
“We are seeing this in all channels. You are not doing anything in this regard. It is a recurring problem every summer. What have you done to prevent water wastage coming from all these sources…have you taken any action or FIR against any tanker mafias? Tanker mafias get water and pipelines are running dry.” the bench added.
Interestingly, while the Supreme Court lambasted the AAP government for not handling the water crisis in the national capital prudently, the Kejriwal government has been busy blaming the Haryana government for depriving the national capital of its rightful share of water.
On Monday, June 10th, several Delhi women and AAP leaders staged a protest against the Haryana government alleging that it deprived the national capital of its rightful share of water. Kuldeep Kumar, AAP’s Delhi State Vice-President and MLA, along with colleagues Shiv Charan Goel, Vinayy Mishra, Somdutt Sharma, and Women’s Wing President Sarika Chaudhary, participated in the demonstration next to Haryana Bhawan, Mandi House.
Protesters chanted slogans against the BJP for stripping Delhi of ‘its share’ of water and demanded that the Central and Haryana governments assure the quick release of Delhi’s portion of water.
Meanwhile, in a statement, Delhi’s Lieutenant-Governor V.K. Saxena’s office said that Saxena spoke to Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini over the phone on Tuesday (June 11) regarding the ongoing water crisis in Delhi and was told that the neighbouring State has been releasing water into the Yamuna river for Delhi through Munak canal as per the city’s allocated share.
The LG office, instead, blamed the AAP government for the water crisis, saying the shortage has been caused by the tanker mafia that is “stealing water (from the canal) in connivance with the ruling AAP”.
“The custodians and owners of water coming into Delhi are the Delhi government and the DJB [Delhi Jal Board]. Tankers are stealing water from the canal but the DJB has never filed a complaint, leave aside an FIR with the Delhi police,” the LG Office said.
The Aam Aadmi Party, however, accused Lieutenant-Governor V.K. Saxena of ‘lying’.
