Delhi water crisis: Atishi begins hunger strike
What's the story
Delhi Water Minister Atishi began her indefinite hunger strike in south Delhi's Bhogal on Friday to get more water from Haryana, in the presence of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's wife Sunita Kejriwal, and other leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party. The protest aims to pressure Haryana into releasing the daily entitlement of 100 million gallons of water. In an X post, Atishi expressed frustration with Haryana's Bharatiya Janata Party government for not releasing Delhi's rightful share of water.
Tribute and appeal
Atishi pays tribute to Gandhi, seeks PM's intervention
Before starting her hunger strike, she paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat, emphasizing his teachings on "Satyagraha" against injustice. Addressing the media on Wednesday, Atishi highlighted the severe water shortage impacting 2.8 million people in Delhi and urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to urgently resolve the crisis, whether by sourcing water from Haryana or other regions. Delhi's water crisis has intensified as heatwaves have increased the city's water demand.
Twitter Post
Read Atishi's post here
दिल्ली में पानी की कमी बरकरार है। आज भी 28 लाख दिल्ली वालों को पानी नहीं मिल रहा। हर संभव प्रयास के बाद भी हरियाणा सरकार दिल्ली को पूरा पानी नहीं दे रही।
— Atishi (@AtishiAAP) June 21, 2024
महात्मा गांधी ने सिखाया है कि अगर अन्याय के ख़िलाफ़ संघर्ष करना हो, तो सत्याग्रह का रास्ता अपनाना होगा। आज से ‘पानी…
Statement
Sunita reads out CM Kejriwal's message
At the protest site, Sunita read out a message from the CM—lodged in Tihar Jail—in which he expressed hope that Atishi's "tapasya" would be successful. CM Kejriwal said he was pained by seeing on TV the plight of the people facing water shortage. "It's our culture to provide water to the thirsty...Although there are governments of different parties in the two states but is this time for politics," he said, referring to the BJP that is in power in Haryana.
Excise policy case
Delhi HC stays Kejriwal's bail
Separately, in a big setback for CM Kejriwal, the Delhi High Court on Friday paused a lower court's order granting him bail in a money laundering case linked to the now-scrapped excise policy. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had challenged the trial court's bail order. A vacation bench paused the trial court's proceedings, saying, "Stay till the High Court takes up the matter. No proceedings to commence before the trial court (Rouse Avenue) till the Delhi High Court hears the case."