NEW DELHI: The Delhi Jal Board (DJB) will now, everyday, submit a report on the total availability and supply of water in the national capital to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal as the latter has now decided to personally monitor and oversee the availability and distribution of water in the city.
The directions were issued by the Chief Minister on Monday during a high-level meeting with all the concerned departments, including the Delhi Jal Board. Notably, this was the fourth review meeting in the last month-and-a-half, and it focused on several issues related to the daily production and transportation of water, installation of RO plants, and land allocation for tube wells and RO plants.
According to the officials, the Chief Minister directed officers to ensure early disposal of pending cases related to land for the installation of tubewells and RO plants. He also sought a plan for using every drop of treated water of STPs from DJB.
During the meeting, Kejriwal took stock of data regarding the total water produced and its supply in Delhi and instructed the DJB to directly report any instances of water leakage or theft to him so that he can take necessary actions.
The Chief Minister even enquired about the progress of providing land for the installation of tubewells and RO plants. The officials informed that land had been received from some departments while negotiations were underway with the remaining departments.
The Delhi Jal Board CEO, during the review meeting, was instructed by the CM to speak to the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) about pending permissions for tubewells. The DDA was also instructed to expedite pending permissions for water bodies and lakes.
“Large reverse osmosis (RO) plants will be set up wherever tube-wells and lakes are present, and small RO plants, also known as community RO plants, will be set up as required. The DJB has identified 471 locations in the first phase for installing small ROs,” officials said.
To prevent water theft, Kejriwal directed that adequate checks and balances be implemented. In the tender process, the Chief Minister suggested that instead of issuing a tender of 10,000 capacity for 1,000
consumers, a tender of 1,200 capacity be issued.