Delhi's Water Minister Atishi commenced an indefinite hunger strike, dubbed 'Paani Satyagraha', on Friday to demand Delhi's right to water.

The same day, Delhi Jal Board reported a water production of 888 million gallons per day (MGD), the season's lowest.

"As water minister, I made every possible effort to secure Delhi's rightful share of water, but Haryana's BJP govt didn't comply. In this regard, I also wrote a letter to the Prime Minister, requesting him to secure Delhi's rightful share of water," the minister said. She added that instead of getting relief, for two days now, Haryana govt had withheld 120MGD of Delhi's share of water. "That is why I had to sit on an indefinite hunger strike," she said.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's wife Sunita Kejriwal, along with AAP MP Sanjay Singh and Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj, were present as Atishi began her fast.

Sunita Kejriwal read out a message from the Chief Minister, who is currently lodged in Tihar jail, in which he expressed hope that Atishi's 'tapasya' would be successful.

The Chief Minister said he was immensely pained by seeing on TV the plight of the people facing water shortage amid the ongoing intense heatwave, he said.

"It's our culture to provide water to the thirsty. Delhi gets water from neighbouring states. We hoped support of neighbouring States in such intense heat. But, Haryana reduced Delhi's water share.

"Although there are governments of different parties in the two States but is this time for politics over water," he said, referring to the BJP that is in power in Haryana.

The protest is being held on a narrow street opposite the Shiv temple in Bhogal. The minister will be present at the tent intermittently. She will otherwise be resting in a separate hall in a dharmshala nearby. Earlier in the day, the minister went to Rajghat and then proceeded for the protest site at Bhogal. On the stage, she offered flowers in front of Mahatma Gandhi's photograph before sitting down for the Paani Satyagraha around noon.