Delhi water crisis: Atishi seeks police protection for water pipelines in city amid acute water shortage

Delhi Water Minister Atishi urged the Delhi Police Commissioner to deploy police personnel to patrol and protect major pipelines amid the worsening water crisis in the national capital. 

In a letter addressed to Police Commissioner Sanjay Arora, the minister sought increased security around the pipelines in the national capital for the next 15 days. 

“I am writing to request deployment of police personnel to patrol and protect our major pipelines for the next 15 days to stop miscreants or people with ulterior motives from tampering with water pipelines which have now become Delhi's lifelines. At this juncture any foul play and sabotage will worsen the already difficult water shortage being faced by the people of Delhi,” she wrote. 

She claimed the Delhi Jal Borad (DJB) teams found that water supply pipelines were damaged in some places. 

“Yesterday our ground patrolling team reported a major leakage in our South Delhi Rising Mains, the main water pipeline that carries water from Sonia Vihar WTP) to South Delhi. This was near the DTL substation in Garhi Medhu. Our patrolling team found that several large 375 mm bolts and one 12-inch bolt had been cut from the pipeline causing the leakage. The fact that several large bolts had been cut seems to indicate foul play and sabotage,” she said.  

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader said that due to a shortage of water being received in the Yamuna, water production has fallen by around 70 million gallons per day (MGD) and many parts of Delhi are experiencing water shortages. 

On June 16, AAP MLAs also reached the house of Union Jal Shakti minister CR Patil to seek his assistance in resolving the acute shortage of water in the national capital. 

“We came here to meet CR Patil to find a solution for the issue of water crisis in Delhi. We got to know that he is not here and we will not be able to meet him today. If the Jal Shakti Minister does interstate coordination, the issue of water shortage will be reduced,” said AAP MLA Dilip Pandey. 

Meanwhile, the BJP launched a protest on June 16 against the AAP government over scarcity of water. BJP MP from New Delhi Bansuri Swaraj took part in the protest along with other senior party leaders. 

“This is not a natural problem, it has been created by the AAP. Delhi has sufficient water, and Haryana is releasing more water than agreed upon. In just 10 years, AAP has taken Delhi Jal Board from a profit of Rs 600 crore in 2013 to a loss of Rs 73000 crore in 2024,” Swaraj said.