New Delhi: BJP and Congress on Monday staged protests alleging poor quality of drinking water in the city even as chief minister Arvind Kejriwal claimed that 98.5 per cent of the 1.5 lakh samples tested by the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) in the past nine months have been found safe.
Leading a protest at Turkman Gate, Delhi Congress president Subhash Chopra demanded that Mr Kejriwal step down and a case be registered against him for “playing with the lives of people.”
Delhi BJP leaders and workers also held protests at 400 places across the city slamming the AAP government.
Union health minister and BJP MP from Chandni Chowk, Harshvardhan, accused Mr Kejriwal of giving “poison” to people in the name of free water supply and demanded his resignation.
BJP’s Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta, in a protest at ITO, said that Mr Kejriwal, who is chairman of DJB, has “failed” to ensure supply of potable water to people.
Responding to the allegations, Mr Kejriwal said that Central ministers were scaring people by alleging that Delhi water was “poisonous.”
He said that the Opposition parties were indulging in “dirty politics.”
Meanwhile, Mr Kejriwal announced free sewer connections for residents of the city if they apply for one before March 31, 2020.
Under the “Mukhyamantri Muft Sewer Yojna,” nearly 2.31 lakh people who do not have a sewer connection will benefit, Mr Kejriwal said, adding that it will also prevent flow of untreated sewer into the Yamuna river.
The scheme will cover 787 colonies where sewer lines have been laid.
“In some areas, where sewer lines have been laid, some people do not have these connections. The Delhi Cabinet has decided to provide free connections by waiving all charges,” he said.
