Delhi Water Battle: Ram Vilas Paswan Reacts to Arvind Kejriwal’s Accusations, Says ‘Test Done by BIS’
The war of words between Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal continued on Thursday. Reacting to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief's accusation of spreading lies on the quality of drinking water in Delhi, Paswan said that the checks were done by Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).
Delhi, November 21: The war of words between Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal continued on Thursday. Reacting to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief's accusation of spreading lies on the quality of drinking water in Delhi, Paswan said that the tests were done by Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). He added that water samples collected from Delhi failed quality analysis. Delhi Jal Board to Collect 3,000 Samples of Water to Check Quality.
"I haven't done quality check, it's country's reputed institution-Bureau of Indian Standards that has done it. It has set standards that Delhi water didn't meet," said the Union Minister. Arvind Kejriwal Calls BIS Report on Delhi Water as 'Politically Motivated', Advises Dr Harsh Vardhan to Stay Away From 'Dirty Politics'.
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Paswan on Saturday had released the BIS study, which stated that Delhi failed on 10 of 11 quality parameters that make drinking water safe. Kejriwal had questioned the authenticity of the BIS report and urged the government to take fresh samples under media presence.
On Wednesday, the AAP cited a media report and claimed that no samples were collected from the people. In a tweet, Kejriwal said, "Sir, you say that you took a sample of water from them (citizens quoted in the news report) and that sample failed, while they say that you did not take any sample from them. They also say that they are satisfied with water. You lied so big? Being a Union Minister, such a big fraud with the people?"
AAP MLA Sanjeev Jha also alleged that the sample was collected from the residence of a woman whose husband is the vice-president of Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party (LJP). Reacting to it, Kejriwal said that he is disheartened to see such "misuse of power to spread fear among the residents of Delhi".
Later, Paswan urged the AAP-led Delhi government to coordinate with the BIS in recollecting the samples. The Chief Minister nominated two members -- Delhi Jal Board (DJB) Vice Chairman Dinesh Mohaniya and Board member Shalabh Kumar -- for a joint water inspection in the national capital with the Centre.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 21, 2019 04:03 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).