NEW DELHI: The BJP in Delhi on Thursday alleged financial irregularities in the Delhi Jal Board (DJB). Addressing a press conference, the party’s president Adesh Kumar Gupta claimed that the water utility had got Rs 41, 000 crore as loan (extra budgetary borrowing) in the last five years from the Delhi government however details of about Rs 26,000 are not available in the Board’s budget.
The presser was jointly addressed by leader of opposition Ramvir Singh Bidhuri in which media relations department in-charge Harish Khurana and media relations department head Praveen Shankar Kapoor were also present. “In just five years, (chief minister) Arvind Kejriwal gave a loan of Rs 41,000 crore to the DJB, out of which there is no account of Rs 26,000 crore…Neither Kejriwal, DJB chairman Satyendar Jain nor its vice chairman Raghav Chadha are ready to give any account for this amount,” said the press statement issued by the party.
The Morning Standard couldn’t check the claims made by the BJP leaders. No reaction was available from the government and Raghav Chadha. However, according to DJB, a detailed response to the BJP’s allegation may be issued on Friday. Speaking at the press conference, Gupta also said that the Kejriwal government had promised to provide tap water to every house but till now one-fourth of Delhi doesn’t even have the drinking water pipeline.
He said that the same is the condition of sewerage plants. “Out of an estimated 1,800 unauthorised colonies in Delhi, only 561 colonies have sewerage plants and even their condition is pathetic. This fact has been written in the Delhi government’s own report,” said the press release. Bidhuri demanded that a two-day session of Delhi Legislative assembly should be convened to investigate the alleged ‘scam’ in DJB.