A day after it was revealed that water quality in Delhi is the worst, failing in all the 19 parameters set by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), Delhi Government refuted the report claiming ‘bias’ in sample testing. BIS is the national standardisation body of India established by the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 1986. 11 samples collected in Delhi failed in all 19 parameters set by the BIS for water quality. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is the chairman of Delhi Jal Board (DJB) since September 2017.
The samples were taken from 11 localities, including Paswan’s official residence at 12 Janpath and Krishi Bhawan in Lutyens’ Delhi, and areas such as Nandnagari, Sonia Vihar, Pitampura, Ashok Nagar and Burari.
However, Delhi government has ‘challenged‘ that the water quality be compared to other BJP-governed states in ‘fair’ manner and send it to a ‘neutral’ agency for checking. It may be noted that tap water quality in Mumbai was found to be complying with standards set in 10 out of 10 samples. Mumbai is capital of Maharashtra, which till last month was a BJP-ruled state. Following a logjam in government formation, it is currently under President’s rule.
Casting aspersions on the BIS, DJB vice-chairman and AAP leader Dinesh Mohaniya said he would like to know which parameters were used to check water if capital cities like Kolkata, Chennai and Jaipur failed to meet them. Responding to the allegations, Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Ram Vilas Paswan said that BIS is an independent body and they have checked the water sample in an unbiased manner.
यदि दिल्ली सरकार दावा करती है कि जल बोर्ड द्वारा आपूर्ति किया जा रहा पानी BIS या WHO के मानकों के अनुरूप है तो इसे मैंडेटरी करने पर सहमती क्यों नहीं देती है। 5/5 @ArvindKejriwal @DelhiJalBoard @IndianStandards @AamAadmiParty
— Ram Vilas Paswan (@irvpaswan) November 17, 2019
Training his guns on AAP government’s apathy towards drinking water toxicity, Paswan said if Delhi Jal Board is so confident of water quality, they should not hesitate in getting mandatory testing under BIS or WHO (World Health Organisation) standards. Paswan said that on 3rd October, a meeting was held with DJB CEO (Arvind Kejriwal), DG of Bureau of Indian Standards and officers of the NDMC (New Delhi Municipal Corporation) where it was suggested that a team be constituted to test water samples in any laboratory.
He added that previously the Delhi Government had agreed to getting it tested but later showed no interest in following it through.
दिल्ली जल बोर्ड ने भी इसपर सहमती जताई थी लेकिन बाद में उन्होंने कोई दिलचस्पी नहीं दिखाई। हम आज भी इसके लिए तैयार हैं। दिल्ली जल बोर्ड, BIS @IndianStandards के साथ संयुक्त टीम बनाकर पानी के नमूने ले और जिस प्रयोगशाला में चाहे पानी की जांच करवा ले। 3/5
— Ram Vilas Paswan (@irvpaswan) November 17, 2019
Paswan even suggested that the DJB and team up with BIS and get water samples tested in any other laboratory if they so wish.
