Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday announced that after ensuring 24X7 electricity supply, government is now making all efforts to ensure 24×7 water supply to every household in Delhi. This will end the woes of Delhiites from installing water pumps to overhead water tanks to store the water.
The government has decided to hire a consultant who will suggest measures to achieve this goal. The consultant will suggest measures to improve water supply management and no wastage of water in Delhi. Kejriwal said to enhance the water availability in Delhi, the state government is in talks with Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and other states where there is sufficient water available. Kejriwal also said the government will take all measures to ensure that the water supply in Delhi is as good as developed nations across the world.
Addressing a digital press conference, Kejriwal said: “We promised you that just like the AAP government has ensured 24×7 electricity in the last five years, we will also ensure 24×7 clean water in every household in Delhi in the next five years. I am glad to share that we have started this process. In a meeting that was held the day before yesterday, we have decided to appoint a consultant in Delhi who will suggest measures to ensure the provision of 24×7 water to every household in Delhi. The process got a bit delayed due to Corona, otherwise, the process would have been completed in March or April.”
“We have to understand as to why there is a shortage of water in Delhi. Why is there no 24×7 availability of water to the residents of Delhi? Delhi is the national capital of the country. If you visit any capital of other nations across the world, London, Tokyo, Paris, you will receive a supply of 24×7 clean tap water. In Delhi, the water pressure is low and people have to install pumps, and if one person installs a pump, it causes a problem for their neighbors. Every household has to install water tanks to store water. We have to bring all of this to an end. Just like the citizens living in the national capitals of other countries receive 24×7 water with full pressure, without the need for a water tank and any water pump, we will do the same in Delhi, ” he added.
Kejriwal said the Delhi government is committed to ensuring a regular supply of water in Delhi, just like many developed and technologically advanced nations across the world. He said: “Every day, around 930 million gallons of water is processed in Delhi. This means that for every citizen of Delhi, around 176 litres of water are processed. This includes water that is used for all purposes, such as industrial, swimming pools, water for farm fields, etc. On one hand, we have to enhance the availability of water in Delhi. For this, we are in talks with the Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and many other state governments, who have sufficient water so that the same level of sufficiency can be achieved in Delhi. But on the other hand, the currently available water, which is 930 MGD and 176 litres of water per person, where does it go?”
Kejriwal said most of the currently available water is either pilfered or leaked, and there is no accountability of this water. “We have to rectify the management of this water and bring this water under accountability. For instance, if a water treatment plant treats 100 MGD of water, there should be an accountability of every single drop of this 100 MGD water and not even a single drop should be wasted. As of now, a considerable amount of water gets wasted in Delhi, the management of water in Delhi is not correct, and there is no accountability of the water management system,” he said.
Kejriwal said: “The consultant that we are hiring for the water management in Delhi, will tell us how to rectify the water management system in Delhi and ensure accountability and no wastage of every drop of water in the national capital. Second, we have to bring the latest and state of the art technology. We are still living in old times, where if we have to transfer the availability of water from one area to another, we have to send a valve in those areas. We have a technology in DJB, where one can operate a valve through a remote control sitting in a control room at a click of a button. The central control room has full information on which pipeline and which area has how much water, and full information on the availability of water is available on a real-time basis. This is also called as a SCADA system. The consultant will tell us about this technology. Now, we are moving towards providing a regular supply of water to Delhiites.”
Kejriwal said some Opposition leaders are saying that the water supply in Delhi is being privatised. “No privatisation of water is happening, I am myself against privatization of water. There can be no privatisation of water at any cost,” said the CM.
