NEW DELHI: Amid ongoing tussle over release of funds, the finance department has released Rs 535 crore to the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) for at least 70 projects, officials said on Thursday. “The file for release of funds came on December 7 and the funds were sanctioned on December 9. These are from the second installment of funds that are supposed to be released to the DJB,” said an official.
“We have to release a total of Rs 2,200 crore to the Delhi Jal Board and out of that Rs 535 crore has been released. The finance department had informed the Delhi High Court about the release of funds on December 11,” the official added.
These projects for which the funds have been released include provide DJB tankers for water supply and laying of sewer lines and all of them have a budget of Rs 5 crore or above. Water Minister Atishi had last month claimed that the national capital was staring at a “man-made water crisis” due to stoppage of funds to the DJB by the finance department and demanded L-G Vinai Kumar Saxena’s immediate intervention.
Atishi in an affidavit submitted before the Delhi High Court said that finance secretary Ashish Chandra Verma was delaying the funds to the DJB. She also said that she had asked officials to look into the matter but to no avail. Earlier this month, DJB vice-chairman Somnath Bharti had said that all maintenance and developmental works came to a standstill due to the delay in disbursal of funds from the finance secretary.