New Delhi, 19 June

Delhi Water Minister Atishi on Wednesday said that she has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the water crisis in the national capital and threatened to go on an indefinite strike from 21 June if the issue is not resolved within a couple of days.

Addressing a press conference here, Atishi said Delhi is grappling with a water crisis since Haryana is not releasing the capital's share of water. "Yesterday, Haryana released 513 MGD of water to Delhi as against 613 MGD. One MGD of water is for 28,500 people. This means that water was not released for over 28 lakh people," she added.

The minister said people are not only battling heatwave conditions but also water shortage. "I have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the water crisis requesting him to resolve the issue. If the crisis is not solved within two days, I will go on an indefinite strike from June 21," she said.

Atishi said they have written multiple letters to the Haryana government to resolve the issue.

Meanwhile, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva accused Atishi of indulging in theatrics to distract attention from theft and black marketing of water, and said that the AAP government should be sacked for its inaction.

Atishi has now stooped to theatrics to divert attention from theft and black marketing of water. Haryana provided surplus water to Delhi yesterday and there are official documents to prove it but she is now resorting to drama, he charged. "This government should be sacked," he said alleging the ruling AAP failed to provide water to the people of Delhi.

Delhi Congress chief Devender Yadav said that Atishi should have written the letter to Prime Minister Modi earlier. The Delhi government should have prepared a good plan involving availability of water and its distribution, he said.