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Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal responded to the Election Commission notice over his claim the Haryana government was ‘mixing poison’ in Yamuna, and said raw water received from the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled state in the recent past has been ‘highly contaminated and extremely poisonous’ for human health.
In the 14-page reply to the Election Commission, the former Delhi chief minister said if such ‘toxic water’ is allowed to be consumed by human population it would lead to grave health hazard and fatality.
AS reported by PTI, Kejriwal said he only wanted to highlight the ‘urgent public health crisis’ due to the quality of drinking water in Delhi, and he violated no law or Model Code of Conduct, hence the issue should be closed.
He said the ‘alleged statements’ attributed to him were made as it was his public duty to red flag the ‘severe toxicity and contamination’ of raw water received from the BJP-ruled state.
Following a complaint filed by the BJP over the matter, the Election Commission issued the notice to Kejriwal on Tuesday, giving him time till Wednesday 8 pm to furnish his reply.
Kejriwal also said the ammonia level in raw water received from Haryana was so ‘extreme’ that water treatment plants in Delhi are unable to process and bring it down to safe and permissible limits for human consumption.
Following their party chief’s response, the AAP issued a statement, saying, ‘It is an undisputed fact that there is 7 ppm ammonia in Yamuna water, A Delhi Jal Board CEO letter admits toxicity is 700 percent higher than the permissible limit.’
In his response to the EC, Kejriwal also alleged that Haryana’s ‘failure’ in controlling pollution in Yamuna has resulted in an ‘unprecedented public health crisis’ in Delhi.
He alleged ‘indiscriminate’ discharge of industrial waste in the river by the state.
