NEW DELHI: Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday defended his ‘poison in Yamuna’ remark and said that he was not afraid of Haryana chief minister Nayab Singh Saini’s threat of taking legal action against him.
“Saini Sahab (Haryana CM), don’t do politics on water. Don’t try to scare us that you will file a case. I will not let the people of Delhi die. Tell your party not to do dirty politics..,” he said.
He further claimed that Delhi Jal Board had confirmed in its letter that the Yamuna waters coming to Delhi were “laced with a poison called ammonia”.
“The CEO of Delhi Jal Board confirmed yesterday that the water coming to Delhi is laced with a poison called ammonia,” he said.
“The Election Commission has given time to Bhagwant Mann and Atishi to meet at 4 pm today,” he added.
The Delhi Jal Board had explained in its letter that during winter, ammonia levels in the Yamuna rise naturally due to reduced water flow and the mixing of untreated sewage or industrial waste upstream. The board CEO Shilpa Shinde, however, had called Kejriwal’s statement “factually incorrect, without basis, and misleading”.
“During winter, ammonia levels in the Yamuna naturally increase due to reduced flow and the mixing of untreated sewage or industrial waste upstream. DJB’s water treatment plants are designed to handle ammonia levels up to 1 ppm and even higher concentrations, such as 6.5 ppm at present, through dilution with water from the Carrier Lined Channel and Delhi Sub-Branch,” the letter said.
Earlier today, Haryana CM Saini had warned of filing a defamation suit against Kejriwal for accusing the BJP-led Haryana government of “mixing poison” into Yamuna waters coming to Delhi.
“Arvind Kejriwal should immediately apologize to the people of Haryana and Delhi for his statement, otherwise, we will file a defamation suit against him,” Saini told ANI.
“Kejriwal said that the engineers of Delhi Jal Board stopped the water from coming to Delhi because they found out that it was poisoned. I want to ask Arvind Kejriwal on which day this happened. How did the engineers conclude that it was poisoned?” he asked.
