The Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi government on Thursday filed a fresh affidavit before the Supreme Court saying it “cannot” take action against tanker mafias as they are operating on the “Haryana side of the Yamuna River.”
“Haryana should explain why action not taken,” the Delhi government said in the affidavit shifting the responsibility.
Meanwhile, as Delhi continues to reel under a severe water crisis, city police patrolling has begun around Munak Canal (Bawana Nahar) to keep a check on the tanker mafias, who are reportedly active in the area.
This comes a day after the Supreme Court on Wednesday slammed the AAP government over the role of tanker mafias in the water crisis in the national capital.
People in Delhi are suffering due to water scarcity, the Supreme Court observed, as it pulled up the AAP government over water wastage and tanker mafias and sought to know what steps it has taken to ease the recurring problem.
The court told the Delhi government it will ask the city police to take action against the tanker mafia if it can’t deal with them.
If the same water can be transported using tankers, why can’t it be supplied through the pipeline, a disquieted court said.
“There are visuals on every channel that the tanker mafia is working in Delhi. What measures have you taken in this regard?… What measures have you taken to control water waste coming through the two barrages if this is a recurring problem? Please show us what action or FIR have you lodged against tanker mafias,” the bench observed orally.
The top court was hearing a plea filed by the Delhi government seeking a direction to Haryana to release the surplus water provided by Himachal Pradesh to the national capital to mitigate its water woes.
After the Supreme Court’s observations, the blame game over the issue intensified with Delhi minister Atishi alleging that senior officials colluded with the mafias to reduce the number of Delhi Jal Board (DJB) tankers and demanding an inquiry into it.
In a letter to Lt Governor VK Saxena, Atishi demanded an inquiry into the alleged collusion of senior officers with the tanker mafias and requested him to deploy an ACP-level police officer to patrol the stretch of Munak Canal in Delhi to ensure that no illegal water-filling activity takes place there.
“There is a need for an enquiry into the potential collusion by senior officers in the Delhi government with the tanker mafia because it seems that there has been a deliberate and substantial reduction of the tankers deployed by the Delhi Jal Board in the last one year,” she claimed.
Atishi said that in January last year, 1,179 tankers were deployed by the Delhi Jal Board and this number was 1,203 in June the same year.
“However, this number was reduced to 888 in January 2024 without any approval from me. In fact, without any consultation with me. I repeatedly kept flagging the issue of grievances regarding water tanker shortage and asking the CEO DJB to increase the number of tankers, but he did not do so,” she alleged.
With inputs from News18
