DJB vice-chief Raghav Chadha inspects reservoirs amid water supply complaints
Over the last two weeks, several parts of the national capital have been facing acute water shortage with daytime temperatures remaining above the 40 degrees mark, and monsoon being delayed inordinately.
Delhi Jal Board vice-chairperson and senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Raghav Chadha inspected reservoirs in central and west Delhi on Thursday and directed officials to ensure that the city receives uninterrupted water supply amid complaints of shortage from several parts of the city.
“Inspected several water reservoirs of central and west Delhi with the Delhi Jal Board officials at 4am this morning to check water supply. Given strict instructions to officials to maintain pre-determined water levels at each such reservoir so that water supply is regular and uninterrupted,” tweeted Chadha.
Over the last two weeks, several parts of the national capital have been facing acute water shortage with daytime temperatures remaining above the 40 degrees mark, and monsoon being delayed inordinately. Since June 20, parts of Rohini, Dwarka, Mayur Vihar phase-one and two, Patel Nagar, Prem Nagar, Baljit Nagar, Kalkaji, Govindpuri, South Extension and Greater Kailash, have either faced irregular water supply or received less than the prescribed amount because of high pollution in the raw water, and low water levels at the water treatment plants.
The Delhi Jal Board supplies 935 MGD (million gallons per day) water to the city as against a total demand of around 1,200 MGD during summer.
Last week too, Chadha chaired a high-level meeting with senior DJB officials to chalk out a plan for the equitable distribution of water, tackle issues of supply shortage and water contamination and set up an emergency response team to minimise water-related complaints.
The senior Aam Aadmi Party leader also instructed officials to do a constituency-wise analysis of the amount of water received by DJB installations, at regular intervals to ascertain the gap between demand and supply.
Many residents and resident welfare associations (RWA) complained about irregular and contaminated water supply being supplied by the DJB.
Manoj Singh, a resident of Aya Nagar, said his locality has been receiving water supply only once a day--that too for 30 minutes for the last 15 days.
“We used to get water supply from the DJB in the morning and in the evening. These days, they have reduced it to only once a day and that too for only half-an-hour, compared to the one-hour supply earlier. We are a family of six, how do they expect us to make do with limited quantity of water and that too in this weather?,” asked Singh.
Arun Kumar, a resident of Badarpur, said despite repeated complaints to local DJB officials, the water supply in his street has not been regularised. “We have not got water for the last one week, and now we are surviving on drinking water cans. The local DJB staff has also stopped answering our calls,” Kumar alleged.