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‘Our culture to provide water’: Kejriwal's message from jail as Atishi sits on indefinite hunger strike
Atishi started her indefinite hunger strike in Bhogal, South Delhi in the presence of Kejriwal's wife Sunita Kejriwal, and other AAP leaders.
Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Friday extended wishes to water minister Atishi as she began her indefinite hunger strike to get more water from Haryana.
“Atishi is beginning hunger strike today, I extend my wishes to her,” Kejriwal said from jail.
Atishi started her indefinite hunger strike in Bhogal, South Delhi in the presence of Kejriwal's wife Sunita Kejriwal and other AAP leaders.
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Sunita Kejriwal read a message from the chief minister, who is currently in Tihar jail in the now-scrapped liquor policy case, expressing hope that Atishi's 'tapasya' (dedication) would succeed.
The chief minister said he felt deeply troubled seeing on TV how people are suffering from water shortages during the intense heatwave.
“It's our culture to provide water to the thirsty. Delhi gets water from neighbouring states. We hoped support of neighbouring states in such intense heat. But, Haryana reduced Delhi's water share. Although there are governments of different parties in the two states but is this time for politics over water,” Kejriwal said referring to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Haryana.
Several areas in Delhi have been experiencing a severe water shortage in recent weeks. This is mainly due to a lack of raw water, which has disrupted water production at Delhi's treatment plants. The issue has worsened with the intense heatwave affecting parts of northwest India.
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On Friday morning, Atishi, along with Sunita Kejriwal, AAP MP Sanjay Singh, Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj and other party leaders, paid respect to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat. Atishi then announced she would start her hunger strike in Bhogal because, despite all efforts, the Haryana government was not providing Delhi with its full share of water.
In a post on X, she said, “I will start 'Pani Satyagraha' from today... I will start an indefinite fast at Bhogal, Jangpura from 12 o'clock until the people of Delhi get their rightful share of water from Haryana," she said on X earlier in the day.”
“Delhi usually receives 1005 million gallons per day (MGD) of water for its residents. However, for the past two weeks, Haryana has been supplying only 513 MGD instead of the usual 613 MGD. This has left over 2.8 million people facing a water shortage. In the last two days, Haryana has further cut Delhi's water supply by an additional 100 to 120 MGD,” Atishi claimed.
