Countering Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's allegation that BIS' report on drinking water quality in Delhi was "false and politically motivated", Union Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Wednesday such reputed agencies do not look at political affiliations while collecting samples from homes.
He also alleged that the Delhi chief minister was maligning the image of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).
A BIS report on the quality of water in Delhi stated that all the 11 samples collected failed quality analysis test on 19 parameters and the city's water was the most unsafe among 21 state capitals.
The Delhi chief minister, who is also the chairman of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), had on Sunday claimed that the report was "false and politically motivated." On Wednesday he accused Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan of spreading lies and misleading people on the issue.
Also, while reacting to AAP MLA Sanjeev Jha's allegation that the BIS collected a sample from the house of a woman whose husband is the vice-president of Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party, Kejriwal said he's disheartened to see such "misuse of power to spread fear among the residents of Delhi".
Countering Kejriwal's allegation, Vardhan said, "Delhi's chief minister is making disgusting and baseless allegations. Do such reputed agencies look at political affiliations while collecting samples of water from respective homes for testing? Do they try to find out the water samples belong to whom?"
"It only shows his (Kejriwal's) intellectual bankruptcy," he said.
Alleging that DJB is notorious for scams, Vardhan said that Kejriwal needs to understand that in many areas of Delhi, there are leakages in water and sewer pipelines because of which toxic water is reaching people's houses.
In another tweet, Vardhan, who is also the Union health minister, claimed that several children have admitted in hospitals in Delhi and are fighting for their life due to polluted water.
"This only proves that Kejriwal did not pay attention to water and air pollution in Delhi," he said, adding, "Kejriwal is maligning the image of BIS.
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