Water shortage discussed in House

The shortage of water across the city found an echo in the Delhi Legislative Assembly on Wednesday. Three members, all from BJP, raised the issue of inequitable distribution of water in south Delhi areas.

The shortage of water across the city found an echo in the Delhi Legislative Assembly on Wednesday. Three members, all from BJP, raised the issue of inequitable distribution of water in south Delhi areas.

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BJP MLA Ramesh Bidhuri first raised the issue of shortage of supply of water from the Sonia Vihar water treatment plant to south Delhi areas.

He said as against the plant's capacity of 140 million gallons per day (MGD), south Delhi was getting only 90 MGD.

"However, areas such as Malviya Nagar are getting up to 303 litres per person against the prescribed norms of 150 litres per person. I suspect foul play in the contract signed with private concessionaire Degremont," Bidhuri said.

Soon after, two other BJP MLAs — Sat Prakash Rana from Vasant Kunj area and Dharam Dev Solanki from Palam — too joined the issue. Rana claimed his area had been facing acute water scarcity for the past 16 years. They demanded an explanation from the chief minister.

However, stating that he was speaking out of turn and creating chaos inside the house, the speaker stopped him and sent him out with the help of marshals.

Rana later sat in front of the chief minister's office and tore off his clothes to draw attention to the issue.