Kejriwal Alleges Political Sabotage Over Yamuna Water in ECI Response

New Delhi- On January 29th, Arvind Kejriwal submitted his response to the Election Commission of India concerning his comments on Yamuna water contamination. He argues that Haryana's failure to control industrial waste discharge is the root cause of the severe pollution crisis.

Kejriwal's submission cites a Delhi Jal Board (DJB) letter acknowledging the extremely high levels of toxicity in the Yamuna water. The letter reveals a 700% increase in toxicity levels, far exceeding permissible limits. The DJB attributes this contamination to the indiscriminate discharge of industrial waste by Haryana.

The former CM emphasized that safe drinking water is a fundamental human right and that raising concerns about such a critical issue cannot be deemed an offense. Kejriwal mentioned that the Delhi Jal Board has previously approached the National Green Tribunal (NGT) and the Supreme Court regarding the issue of toxic water supply from Haryana.

Kejriwal asserted that the Delhi government has no control over the water quality supplied by Haryana, an upper-riparian state. He stressed that the high toxicity levels in the raw water supplied by Haryana are causing operational challenges for Water Treatment Plants (WTPs), leading to a shortage of treated water in Delhi.

Kejriwal further stated that the 7 ppm ammonia detected in the Yamuna water poses a grave threat to public health, potentially leading to serious health complications and even fatalities if consumed.

This statement comes amidst a heated political exchange between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the lead-up to the Delhi Assembly elections, with Kejriwal alleging that the BJP was ‘mixing poison’ in the city’s water supply in an attempt to “create chaos... hoping the blame will fall” on his party's administration. Kejriwal had accused the BJP-led Haryana government of deliberately contaminating the Yamuna water supply to create chaos and blame the AAP administration.

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar refuted these allegations, inviting Kejriwal to visit the Yamuna banks and see for himself the purity of the water. Haryana Chief Minister drank water from the river near the Delhi border to emphasize his point.