Asaram Bapu will not be supplied water in future: Nagpur Municipal Corporation

19 March, 2013

Nagpur Municipal Corporation will not supply water to spiritual leader Asaram Bapu for his events in future. The decision was taken after it was found that Asaram Bapu while ignoring the sentiments of the drought-hit public of the state misused the drinkable water for playing Holi with his followers.

Metropolitan municipality has also decided to serve a show cause notice to Asaram Bapu. “They (Asaram Trust) have requested us to supply water for drinking purpose. But they used it commercially. There will be penalty on the trust. And in future we are not going to supply water to them,” Avinash Thackrey, Chairman, Standing Committee, Metropolitan Municipality told NNIS.

The municipal corporation that has supplied 40,000 liters of drinking water to the Asaram Bapu trust has now directed them to pay Rs 9,367 for seeking drinking water but using it for "some other" purposes. The water was originally supplied to the trust for Rs 3,167.

Following a tradition, Asaram Bapu plays Holi every year in the city along with his followers, during which he sprays coloured water on them. Meanwhile, the trust's Nagpur unit has denied the allegations that drinking water was used for playing Holi.

On social networking website Twitter, people have criticized Asaram Bapu for misusing water in the drought-hit state. A user with Twitter handle @ vidyut wrote, “As Maharashtra battles drought, Asaram Bapu wastes water, abuses media”.