Will sit on indefinite fast if water issue not resolved by June 21: Atishi writes to PM

New Delhi, June 19 (IANS) Delhi Water Minister, Atishi Marlena, on Wednesday wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the water crisis in the national Capital and threatened to sit on an indefinite fast if Delhi doesn’t start getting “its share of water” by June 21.

Atishi claimed that the national Capital has been grappling with a water shortage and Haryana remains one of the major “culprits” in aggravating this crisis.

In the letter, she said that Delhi was being denied its share of water despite clear directions from the court.

Atishi said that she was unable to bear the pain and sufferings of Delhiites and would be forced to launch a ‘satyagraha’ and sit on an indefinite fast if no solution emerges in the next two days.

She also sought intervention by PM Modi to defuse the situation.

“I request you with folded hands to intervene in the matter and ensure that Haryana administration releases Delhi’s share of water,” she wrote.

Holding the Haryana government responsible for leaving 28 lakh Delhiites without water, she said that never before had the city seen such a deep water deficit.

“On June 18, Haryana released 513 MGD water to Delhi as against the standard supply of 613 MGD. Decrease in water supply by about 100 MGD has impacted lives of at least 28 lakh city residents,” she wrote in the letter.

She also said that AAP legislators went to meet the ministers concerned at the Centre and also approached top officials of the Haryana government for the release of the remaining 100 MGD of water to Delhi but nothing happened.

In the letter to PM Modi, she also urged the Haryana government to release 100 MGD water on humanitarian grounds.

--IANS