Yamuna River poisoning row ahead of Assembly elections: A 30-year timeline of Delhi vs Haryana feud

Delhi Election 2025: The Yamuna River – once a lifeline of the national capital – is at the centre of a war of words between political parties – days ahead of voting for assembly elections.

Leaders of all political parties are engaged in poking each other. BJP leader and Haryana Chief Minister Naib Singh Saini went a step further and took a ‘sip’ from the river water on the Delhi-Haryana border on Wednesday.

Soon after Saini shared a video of him sipping Yamuna water on X, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal accused him of "pretending" to drink water and then spitting it back into the river.

“Haryana Chief Minister Naib Singh Saini pretended to drink Yamuna water... and then spat the same water back into the Yamuna. When I said that Yamuna water could be dangerous for the lives of Delhiites due to ammonia contamination, they threatened to file an FIR against me. They want to make the people of Delhi drink the same poisonous water which they themselves cannot drink. I will never let this happen,” Kejriwal wrote on X.

Political Row over Yamuna

A political row erupted on Tuesday after Arvind Kejriwal claimed that the Haryana government is "poisoning" the Yamuna water. Top Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, slammed Kejriwal for the remarks.

A court in Haryana summoned Kejriwal while the Election Commission sought ‘proof’ from him. In response to the poll panel, Kejriwal said he has not ‘violated any law.’

The Yamuna River is often the centre of a political blame game over pollution concerns. The Congress and the BJP have called out Arvind Kejriwal for not cleaning the river in the last ten years despite promises.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has also challenged Kejriwal to drink water from the Yamuna. Earlier, Kejriwal dared Gandhi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah to drink Yamuna water, which, he claimed, was being "poisoned" by neighbouring Haryana.

The Aam Aadmi Party's manifesto for the past two elections included cleaning the Yamuna, but not much has been done to clean the river. In its 2025 Delhi Election manifesto, AAP admitted to falling short on three key promises, including cleaning the Yamuna.

Kejriwal, in his now-controversial remarks, alleged that ammonia levels in the water being supplied to Delhi were around 3 ppm but spiked to 7 ppm after January 21. He claimed that it was a conspiracy to disrupt the functioning of Delhi's water treatment plants and create public outrage against AAP.

Delhi Chief Minister Atishi termed Haryana’s actions as “water terrorism”.

When in the Delhi Assembly Election?

The elections to the 70-member Delhi Assembly are expected to be held on 5 February.

The results of the Delhi Assembly elections will be declared on 8 February.

The AAP has been in power in Delhi since 2015. The Arvind Kejriwal-led party won the national capital's 2015 and 2020 assembly elections. Before AAP, the Congress was in power in Delhi for 15 years. The BJP has not been in power in Delhi for 27 years.

The Background

The Yamuna River is vital to Delhi, providing water to about 70 percent of its population, not to mention its spiritual significance for Hindus. However, rapid urbanization and continuous discharge of industrial waste and untreated sewage have made the Yamuna one of the most polluted rivers in the country.

The latest political war of words is rooted in the old tussle over the Yamuna River between Delhi and Haryana. The issue is as old as the Delhi assembly.

Here is a timeline of the Yamuna Water issue between the two states

-1993- Delhi gets a Legislative Assembly.

-May 1994 – An MoU IS signed by the chief ministers of five states – Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh over the allocation of Yamuna waters.

-March 31, 1995 – Supreme Court hears a plea seeking directions to Haryana to maintain regular flow of water in the Yamuna to mitigate drinking water shortage in Delhi.

“Delhi, which is in dire need of water, is to be given its allocation of water with immediate effect. We, therefore, direct all the parties to the MoU to assure that sufficient water, which… is about 2 ½ times of the seasonal allocation, is released… for its consumption during the period March to June 1995.” The top court said in an interim order.

-February 1996 - The SC ruled that Delhi shall continue to get as much water for domestic use from Haryana through Yamuna as can be consumed and filled in the two water reservoirs and treatment plants at Wazirabad and Hyderpur. The court asked Haryana not to obstruct the supply of water to Delhi

-April 2018 – The water level in the Wazirabad reservoir fell and the matter reached the SC again . The Court asked the chief secretaries of the two states to resolve the issue.

-May 2018 – The then Manohar Lal Khattar-led- BJP government in Haryana assured it would release water, if the AAP government in Delhi, withdrew all cases in various courts and the National Green Tribunal (NGT) relating to the water dispute.

March 2021—The DJB again moved the SC and accused the Haryana government of disobeying the Supreme Court’s 1996 ruling on Yamuna water. The Haryana government responded that the problem was due to the Delhi government’s ‘mismanagement’.

-July 2021 - SC dismisses the Delhi government’s case.

-July, 2023 - AAP government alleges that water was deliberately released from the Hathnikund Barrage in Yamunanagar district of Haryana to flood the national capital.

-June 2024 - Atishi, then Delhi's water minister, began a hunger strike while accusing the Haryana government of 'conspiring against Delhi by not releasing its share of the Yamuna waters.

Atishi alleged that the Haryana government was trying to take Delhi’s share of the water, which Himachal Pradesh was releasing in accordance with a Supreme Court ruling. Atishi ended the hunger strike in five days after her health deteriorated.