NEW DELHI.
The Delhi Jal Board has written to Union Water Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat urging him to take notice of contaminated water supply in BJP-ruled states alongside Delhi. Delhi Jal Board Vice Chairman Shri Saurabh Bhardwaj raised suspicion over the development and asked why the Union Water Minister is giving a step-child-like treatment to the people of states ruled by BJP. He stated, “Sincerely request the Union Water Minister to examine water quality in Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh too.
Major cities of Gujarat including Ahmedabad, Palanpur, Mehsana, Patan, Banaskantha, Sabarkantha are looking at a huge crisis due to highly contaminated water. In Himachal Pradesh, the level of water contamination is so high that the High Court summoned and pulled up the Chief Secretary over it. UP’s cities like Bundelkhand, Mirzapur, Mahoba, Sonbhadra, Ghaziabad, Firozabad are forced to drink sewer-like water on top of a water shortage. People are complaining of jaundice, typhoid and liver related diseases due to consumption of contaminated water in Madhya Pradesh.”
Delhi Jal Board Vice Chairman Saurabh Bhardwaj said, “BJP’s Adesh Gupta recently wrote a letter to Union Water Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat over Delhi’s water quality. He sought an inquiry into Delhi’s water quality situation. We felt that it would be appalling that Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, being the Water Minister of the whole country, was dedicating all his time over Delhi instead of all other states. Thus, I have decided to write a letter to him informing him about the water crisis in cities beyond the national capital as well. For instance, Gujarat, a BJP-ruled state, faces a huge water shortage. This claim has been made repeatedly by BJP’s own MLAs from Patan and Banaskantha. Some days back, in Gandhinagar, 554 people fell ill because of consuming contaminated water. Prior to that over 50 students in Kutch fell terribly ill and were hospitalised due to contaminated water. All prominent cities of Gujarat face such problems, be it Ahmedabad, Palampur, Mehsana, Patan or even Banaskantha & Sabarkantha.”
He added, “Similarly, in Himachal Pradesh both groundwater and river water has been polluted beyond the levels of consumption. The contamination levels are so high that the Himachal High Court rapped the state Chief Secretary over it. From Nalagarh to Solan, Himachal has countless pharma industries and other hubs of factories. All these factories are releasing untreated chemicals and antibiotics in the rivers. In Hamirpur alone, the level of water contamination is so high that the High Court again rapped the Principal Secretary by summoning him to court. The water in Nalagarh is so polluted that tubewells are giving out pitch black water full of chemicals.”
He continued, “The situation in UP again is tragic. Major cities there too have highly contaminated water. Bundelkhand, Mirzapur, Mahoba, Sonbhadra, Ghaziabad, Firozabad all have terrible water contamination and water shortage. So much so that the people are forced to consume sewer like water. In Ghaziabad’s LandCraft society, 35 children fell sick because of contaminated water. Similar tragedies are happening regularly in Kanpur. The Jal Jeevan Mission being run in UP itself is under the scanner. They’re buying pipes from such companies that have been blacklisted by several companies. In MP’s Jabalpur, hundreds of people got infected due to consumption of contaminated water. These people ended up getting jaundice, typhoid, and liver diseases.”
He concluded, “I sincerely request and appeal to the Water Minister to not give a step-child treatment to the rest of the states of India. It is okay for him to be concerned about Delhi but he must show his care for all other states and especially UP, MP, Himachal and Gujarat. Please take up investigations about the water quality of these states too.”