Water crisis: Congress holds 'matka phod' protests in 280 blocks in Delhi

Amid a water crisis in the national capital, the Delhi Congress, under the leadership of its chief Devender Yadav, held 'matka phod' protests across the city on Saturday, 15 June, with its members smashing earthen pots to the ground.

The protests began around 10 am in all 280 blocks in Delhi.

Carrying earthen pots on their heads and Congress flags, the protesters raised slogans against the Delhi government and chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. Later, they threw the pots on the ground.

Yadav, who also joined the protests, demanded a special assembly session to discuss the issue. The protesters, carrying placards and banners, shouted anti-government slogans.

Yadav said that the Delhi Congress has been taking up the water scarcity issue for the past 20 to 25 days.

Both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) governments have been neglecting the plight of the people and are busy blaming each other for water scarcity, he alleged.

Yadav claimed that while the Congress has been taking up issues that are affecting the people of Delhi, such as water crisis and frequent power breakdowns, the Delhi government was not doing anything to address these issues.

The AAP government should have taken up the water crisis issue with the Centre and sought release of water by the Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana governments to meet the water requirements of Delhi, but it kept quiet till the water crisis went out of control, the Delhi Congress unit chief said.

Water minister Atishi had said on Friday that water production in Delhi was decreasing continuously as less water was reaching the Yamuna river here.

The AAP government has been accusing the BJP-ruled Haryana of not releasing Delhi's share of water.

Sharing data, Atishi had said water production on June 6 was 1,002 million gallons per day (MGD) and it declined to 993 MGD the next day and 990 MGD on 8 June.

It was 978 MGD on June 9 and 958 MGD the next day. On June 11, 12 and 13, water production was 919 MGD, 951 MGD and 939 MGD, respectively, the minister had said.