On Monday, furious citizens of Delhi tweeted using the hashtag #DilliKaPaaniZehrila. This was a follow up to the BSI report on the abysmal condition of drinking water in the national capital. Many citizens shared pictures of the water having various hues of color.
#DilliKaPaaniZehrila
Shame 😡 pic.twitter.com/Sy9P6OAitf— Apurva Singh ( मोदी का परिवार ) (@iSinghApurva) November 17, 2019
Condition of water in some areas of Dwarka. People complained about this to MLA;however, he thinks he is parallel CM. People are helpless about this #DilliKaPaaniZehrila pic.twitter.com/SyrTuXfZIH
— Deepak Arora (Modi Ka Parivar) (@iAroraDeepak) November 17, 2019
This is today’s water supply in Mangolpuri area CM @ArvindKejriwal should tell us how do we drink this water ? @BJP4Delhi#DilliKaPaaniZehrila pic.twitter.com/6kQv1UHULP
— Vaishali Poddar (Modi Ka Parivar) (@PoddarVaishali) November 17, 2019
Although the Kejriwal led AAP government is faced with such empirical evidence of contaminated and poisonous water in circulation, they have not desisted from crying victim and blaming the central government for bias.
The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) report recently found water samples taken from Delhi and several other cities failing on all 19 parameters. The BIS falls under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, headed by Ram Vilas Paswan. It is to be noted that the Jal Shakti Ministry too tested the water samples from the national capital, and found no contamination in the samples. This contradiction in reports from the two quarters has triggered a massive war of words between the Aam Aadmi Party and the central government. This time though, Ram Vilas Paswan is himself leading the fight of Delhi’s citizens against an ignorant AAP government.
The Aam Aadmi Party, through its Twitter handle, sent out a tweet in which they claimed that there was a contradiction in the statements of two union ministers, namely- Ram Vilas Paswan and Gajendra Singh Shekhwat. However, the latter has not spoken on the issue, rather the ministry he heads- the Jal Shakti Ministry has found no fault with the water of Delhi in their findings. Meanwhile, Ram Vilas Paswan who heads the Ministry of Consumer Affairs has made a statement in Parliament and also tweeted on the issue.
AAP के नेताओं ने मांग की थी कि उन्हें जांच की रिपोर्ट नहीं मिली है।@IndianStandards ने दिल्ली के मुख्यमंत्री श्री @ArvindKejriwal जी को दिल्ली में पानी की जांच की विस्तृत रिपोर्ट भेज दी है जो मुख्यमंत्री आवास पर प्राप्त हो गयी है। @PMOIndia https://t.co/MZ4TmN0ifJ
— Ram Vilas Paswan (@irvpaswan) November 19, 2019
I have gathered through the newspaper reports that @DelhiJalBoard has constituted 32 teams to collect water samples in Delhi. I hope that as per my letter dated 18th Nov, CM @ArvindKejriwal will coordinate with BIS for collection of samples and get them tested as per BIS standard
— Ram Vilas Paswan (@irvpaswan) November 20, 2019
आज के समाचार पत्रों में प्रकाशित प्रमुख ख़बरों की क्लिपिंग। pic.twitter.com/DuzFjlBHIl
— Ram Vilas Paswan (@irvpaswan) November 20, 2019
The AAP government had claimed that they had not received the detailed copy of the BSI report. However, Ram Vilas Paswan was quick to retort these frivolous claims. He stated that the copy had been sent to the Chief Minister, and had been duly received by his office. As such, for the Aam Aadmi Party to claim that they have no clue about the report is just childish. “You cannot drink tap water directly. At many places, water comes in all sorts of colours, yellow, blue… Name your officials for a team which will also have top BIS officials. Let them go to any area, pick samples and get them tested from any lab,” Paswan dared the AAP government and Kejriwal while speaking in Parliament.
Not only Paswan, multiple senior BJP leaders have lashed out at the AAP government for the pathetic condition of water in Delhi. Leave alone drinking, the said water cannot be used for domestic purposes too.
“Arvind Kejriwal is making residents of Delhi drink poison in the name of free water. A survey in 20 cities in the country found the water of Delhi to be most poisonous,” Union health minister Harsh Vardhan tweeted on Sunday.
फ्री पानी के नाम पर #दिल्ली की जनता को ज़हर पिला रहे हैं @ArvindKejriwal
देश के 20 शहरों के #पानी पर हुए सर्वे में दिल्ली का पानी सबसे ज्यादा जहरीला पाया गया।
विकास के बड़े-बड़े दावे करने वाली @AamAadmiParty सरकार लोगों को साफ़ पानी तक मुहैया कराने में नाकाम रही है। pic.twitter.com/fePhjjoNtf
— Dr Harsh Vardhan (Modi Ka Pariwar) (@drharshvardhan) November 17, 2019
The only defence that Arvind Kejriwal had to these charges was that the report was fabricated. This was of course supplemented by melodrama.
सर, आप तो डॉक्टर हैं। आप जानते हैं कि ये रिपोर्ट झूठी है, राजनीति से प्रेरित है। आप जैसे व्यक्ति को ऐसी गंदी राजनीति का हिस्सा नहीं बनना चाहिए। https://t.co/1qAPxXORcw
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) November 17, 2019
“When you have been exposed, the report is untrue. The AAP is a master in telling lies and indulging in dirty politics. Delhi needs clean water and clean politics. Till when will you force Delhi people to drink dirty water and make them sick!” Shazia Ilmi, who has been associated with the AAP in the past and knows the party machinations well, said.
The Kejriwal government has always been oblivious and ignorant about their failures in governing Delhi. Kejriwal’s quasi-socialist policy of providing free water has not gone down well with the people of Delhi, who are visibly frustrated with the terrible condition of water in the capital. It would only be befitting of Kejriwal if he accepts Ram Vilas Paswan’s challenge to get Delhi waters tested from any neutral agency as well.