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Delhi BJP demands CBI probe into DJB projects, to submit letter to LG

He alleged that Atishi’s attempt to blame officials for not allocating funds is completely misleading.

Statesman News Service | New Delhi | April 15, 2024 7:50 pm

Delhi BJP demands CBI probe into DJB projects, to submit letter to LG

Delhi LG orders FIR against Jal Board officials Rs 20 cr embezzlement Photo: IANS

The Delhi BJP on Monday said that it will submit a letter to the Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena urging to order a probe into all the tender projects undertaken by the Delhi Jal Board and Irrigation Department in the past 9 years.

Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva has alleged that due to the criminal negligence of the Delhi government, extensive theft and wastage of water is taking place in the national capital, leading to a severe shortage of water for Delhi’s consumers, especially the poor.

He pointed that as a result of the shortage, a 35-year-old woman was killed in a quarrel over water filling in the Farsh Bazaar area of Shahdara on Friday, April 12.

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Sachdeva further claimed that it was regrettable to see Delhi’s Water Minister Atishi indulging in false and baseless political rhetoric instead of expressing sympathy for the brutal murder of a woman or compensating the affected family.

He alleged that Atishi’s attempt to blame officials for not allocating funds is completely misleading, further adding that during the past 9 years, DJB has been allocated Rs 29,172 crores for water treatment alone, and questioned as to where did that money go since water availability has not increased in Delhi, and demanded that Delhi CM and minister Atishi should explain where the money went.

Sachdeva further alleged that in the past 9 years, the water agency has become a breeding ground of AAP’s corruption, and claimed that the Kejriwal government has been making excuses to hide its shortcomings, and added that, so far no work has been done to increase the availability of drinking water in the city.

Elaborating on the issue, Sachdeva further claimed that despite Delhi’s population registering an increase by more than 90 lakh in the last decade, it was due to the negligence and incompetence of the Arvind Kejriwal government, there has been only a marginal increase of 5 MGD in water availability.

Delhi BJP chief further claimed that in the year 1998, the DJB produced 640 MGD and in 2013 it produced 935 MGD of water, but after 2014 when AAP came to power, the water availability only increased by 5 MGD.

He also alleged that it was a result of Delhi government’s negligence, that during the last decade, water theft and wastage in Delhi Jal Board have reached up to 74 percent in the current times, and further added that the water minister must tell what her government has done to stop this theft and wastage.

Speaking on the ground water extraction, he alleged that Kejriwal government is increasing to source groundwater through bore wells, and claimed that the same policy which was adopted in Chennai, had led to a severe groundwater shortage in the southern Indian metropolitan city.

He further accused the Delhi government of not paying attention to the city’s natural rainwater wells, and claimed that at present five rainwater wells in Delhi are in a bad condition, and if they were functioning, they could have provided water to 4500 tankers.

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# India

Water woes: Delhi LG accuses Atishi of using death of woman for pol gains

Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena on Tuesday wrote an open letter to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, expressing displeasure over Water Minister Atishi's letter to him alleging that she has chosen to use an unfortunate death of a woman for narrow political gains. LG in his letter to Kejriwal alleged that the minister drew a conclusion based on news reports and resorted to blame game, where she had underlined inadequate water supply as the cause behind the incident, despite the police still probing the circumstances of the tragic death. The LG termed her note addressed to him as a prima facie admission of guilt, inaction and inefficiency over the past ten years. He pointed out that the unfortunate incident was not the only such case of its kind in Delhi, but many such incidents happened in the past due to the government's failure, he claimed. Mentioning that the water minister has again targeted the Chief Secretary who is also DJB CEO and officers of Finance and UD, the LG alleged that the Delhi ministers have time and again blamed officers for their own failures in different situations. The LG further highlighted facts brought in the economic survey 2023- 24 tabled by Finance Minister, and informed CM that water treatment over the last decade grew marginally from 906 MGD to 946 MGD, which was barely 4.4 per cent increase, while during the same period Delhi's population has significantly grown by 15 per cent, LG added. He mentioned that of the total water supplied, 120 MGD comes from the ground water, which he claimed was exaggeration, adding that out of the 16 Ranney Wells, five are non functional. LG in his open letter to CM also mentioned that water leakages through transmission and distribution losses, theft and other factors have seen a sharp spike from 45 per cent in 2015 to 58 per cent in 2022- 23. Net water availability over the last decade has decreased by more than 100 MGD due to criminal neglect by the Delhi government, LG alleged. The LG has also claimed in his letter to CM that the rich are getting an abundant supply of water which is nearly 35 buckets per person, while poor colonies' water supply is less than 50 litre per person on a daily basis. He also said he was dismayed and disturbed while addressing budget session where his speech approved by the CM mentioned that 7 percent of households in the city do not receive piped water supply, which also is a gross understatement of the problem, Saxena claimed, adding that during his visits to slums and unauthorised colonies and rural areas it was evident that the magnitude was far greater, he added, further questioning as to whether this was the world class city which the Delhi government has been promising the citizens since a decade. LG also questioned and pointed that instead of fixing the water supply issues, CM and his ministers created a chimera of free water, alleging that deception of people was mastered by the ministers. He further expressed that in the present circumstances CM would not be able to do much about the situation, except to reflect and introspect.