‘BJP MLAs adulterated water for Yamuna stir’

Delhi assembly speaker Ram Niwas Goel referred the matter to the Privilege Committee of the House and said the Delhi Jal Board tested samples of the water and found they were not from Yamuna

Delhi assembly speaker Ram Niwas Goel on Monday alleged Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawmakers carried bottles of drinking water “mixed with black substances” to make it look dirty during a January protest against pollution in the Yamuna “to create panic among the people”, triggering an uproar in the House. The BJP hit back, calling the charge “fabricated” and daring Goel to test fresh samples from the Yamuna at a neutral facility “not controlled by the Delhi government”.

Leader of Opposition in Delhi Legislative Assembly Ramvir Singh Bidhuri with BJP MLAs as they hold Yamuna river water in bottles during a protest against the Delhi government in New Delhi in January. (ANI)

Goel referred the matter to the Privilege Committee of the House for action and said the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) tested samples of the water and found they were not from the Yamuna.

“The bottles BJP legislators carried had drinking water mixed with black substances to make it look dirty. It was an attempt to create panic among the people of Delhi,” Goel said ahead of the presentation of the Economic Survey and the annual Outcome Budget.

Leader of the Opposition Ramvir Singh Bidhuri rejected the charge and protested against Goel’s remarks. “DJB’s report is fabricated. They changed the water in the bottles. Everyone knows that the water in the Yamuna is toxic and pollution is growing due to the inefficiency of the Arvind Kejriwal government. I dare the speaker to visit the Yamuna bank with BJP MLAs in the presence of media to take fresh water samples, and get them tested in a neutral facility not controlled by the Delhi government,” Bidhuri said.

A DJB official did not comment on the development.

In January, BJP lawmakers protested against pollution in the Yamuna, carrying bottles with “heavily polluted” river water, outside the assembly.

Bidhuri then said the supply of dirty water from Yamuna was harming the people’s health, causing cancer, damaging kidneys and livers, and leading to other ailments. He alleged the Yamuna became “200% more polluted” during the Aam Aadmi Party’s eight-year rule and questioned what chief minister Arvind Kejriwal did with the ₹2,500-crore fund the Union government gave to Delhi to clean the river.