Delhi water crisis: Atishi alleges BJP sabotage; wants police protection for pipelines

NEW DELHI: Delhi water minister Atishi wrote to police commissioner Sanjay Arora on Sunday, requesting deployment of personnel for protection of major pipelines for the next 15 days as a Delhi Jal Board patrol team had found signs of sabotage at several spots of the water network.
Later in the day at a press conference, the minister alleged the possibility of BJP's hand in the damage to the pipelines.
Atishi's letter to the police commissioner said that production of treated water had reduced by about "70 MGD".
She wrote that Delhi Jal Board had deployed patrol teams to check the main distribution network that carries raw water to the treatment plants, and from there to the main underground reservoirs in different parts of the city. "In addition, we have deployed teams under the supervision of ADMs to support this work," she wrote.
The minister said that on Saturday, DJB's patrol team found a major leakage in the main pipeline that carries water from the Sonia Vihar treatment plant to south Delhi. "This (the leak) was near the DTL substation in Garhi Medhu. Our patrolling team found that several large 375 mm bolts and one 12-inch bolt had been cut from the pipeline, causing leakage. The fact that several large bolts had been cut seems to indicate foul play and sabotage," the letter said.
Atishi requested Arora to deploy police personnel to prevent "miscreants or people with ulterior motives" from "tampering with the water pipelines".
About the damaged pipeline, she mentioned that a team worked for six hours and repaired the leak. "But this meant that we had to stop pumping water for 6 hours, and 20 MGD was not pumped during this time. As a consequence, a further 25% of water shortage will be experienced in south Delhi," she added.
Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj mentioned that several areas in south Delhi such as Greater Kailash, Kalkaji and Chirag Delhi, had got less water because the Sonia Vihar pipeline had been tampered with. "There are plates to join the pipelines and bolts to clamp the plate. Some miscreants had cut them, leading to the leakage. For repairs, the line had to be shut down," he said in a video message.
Bharadwaj denied claims that the leaks were not being addressed. He said miscreants were deliberately damaging the pipelines and then making videos to defame Delhi govt.
At her news conference, Atishi wondered aloud how BJP functionaries had reached the broken pipelines. "They click photos. Yesterday, the pipeline that supplies water to south Delhi from Sonia Vihar was found broken. Was this pipeline broken intentionally This would not have happened on its own. This is also a part of the conspiracy," she said.
Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said that it was regrettable that instead of working to fix leaks in pipelines and check water theft, Atishi was trying put blame BJP. "Tomorrow BJP workers will hold protests across the city in 52 places against Kejriwal govt's failure to check leaks and water theft," he said.
Later on Sunday, AAP MLA Dilip Pandey, along with his supporters, reached the residence of Union water minister CR Patil, demanding his intervention. "We have written to Union water minister CR Patil, asking him to intervene and solve the problem. Today, we came to meet him regarding the matter. Although we did not meet him, we have given him the letter through his office," he said.
BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said the AAP MLAs were refusing to follow Atishi's order that MLAs should go to Patil's home. "Hardly 8 MLAs turned up outside his house, forcing AAP to abandon its agitation," he said.