Ram Vilas Paswan tabled false report in Parliament: DJB

NEW DELHI: While the AAP on Thursday demanded the resignation of Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan for giving out a “false” report which said national capital’s water is most unsafe among 21 major cities of India, Delhi Jal Board vice-chairman Dinesh Mohaniya alleged that the minister acted “irresponsibly” and “tabled a fake report” in Parliament about the water quality.  Carrying water samples from various parts of Delhi, BJP members, however,  staged a protest near Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence.

Even as AAP senior leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh asked Mr Paswan on whose provocation he lied and defamed Delhi through his allegations, Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari said that Mr Kejriwal was forcing people to drink this “polluted” water in the name of free supply by his government.

Citing media reports, Mr Mohaniya alleged that “gross irregularities” have surfaced in the process of water sample collection in the city. He said: “We have come to know that a Lok Janshakti Party worker collected water sample from a house and not BIS officials. It’s politics in the run-up to elections. An issue is being made out of it.”

The Centre and the city government have been trading allegations since Mr Paswan released a BIS report on November 16 that said water samples collected from 11 places in the city failed quality tests.

Quoting media reports, Mr Mohaniya said people at two places denied that water samples were taken from their houses. He alleged that water samples have been collected from the house of LJP vice president. “It is petty politics ahead of the assembly elections in Delhi. A fake report has been tabled in Parliament and Paswanji has acted irresponsibly.”

The DJB vice-chairman said an independent agency has again collected samples from these 11 places.