Delhi Jal Board Vice Chairman Somnath Bharti chaired an important meeting with senior officers of Delhi Jal Board at DJB Headquarter on Thursday. Additional Chief Engineers of different zones of the Jal Board attended the meeting. The DJB Vice Chairman directed the officials that everyone will have to work together to realise the vision of Chief Minister Shri Arvind Kejriwal. Delhi Jal Board will follow the policy of zero tolerance on the issue of water contamination. He said that the authorities need to focus on crisis management and rational distribution of water in the national capital. Shri Somnath Bharti has also sought a report from the DJB officials.
Boosting the morale and confidence of the DJB officials, Shri Somnath Bharti said that he is available to the officials for 24 hours of the day to solve the problems related to the public and officers can meet him whenever they want.
The DJB Vice Chairman directed the officials that maintenance of water quality should be the top-most priority. The authorities will have to ensure that there is no supply of contaminated water in any area of Delhi. If there is a problem of dirty water supply in any area, then the authorities must solve it immediately, he said.
He said that the officials should reach the spot and solve the complaints of contaminated water fast and concretely. He also held that Delhi Jal Board will follow the policy of zero tolerance against water contamination and the officials will have to take all possible steps in this direction. Shri Somnath Bharti said that to curb the challenge of dirty water supply, separation of sewage and drainage is necessary. Also, sewage and drainage should not be connected to each other anywhere. This will also help in reduction of incidences of waterlogging in Delhi.
Shri Somnath Bharti issued clear instructions to all Additional Chief Engineers that wherever the work of laying sewer or water pipeline is going on in their areas, they must ensure that after the completion of the laying work, the road restoration work should also be completed immediately. He said that the general public has to face a lot of problems as road restoration works are not completed in time. No negligence will be tolerated in road restoration works.
He took information from the officials about their respective areas and works. He also sought reports on the problems that are related to their areas. Shri Somnath Bharti instructed the officials to present the report in the next meeting. He said that Chief Minister Shri Arvind Kejriwal wants to create a different identity of Delhi before the world in terms of drinking water supply. The vision of the Chief Minister is clear on this front. Under this vision, every house in Delhi should get drinking water 24 hours of the day. Every household should be connected to the sewer network. Sewerage and drainage lines must be separate. Also, to make Delhi self-sufficient in terms of drinking water availability, Delhi should be identified as a ‘City of Lakes.’
Shri Somnath Bharti said that all officials of DJB will have to work unitedly to fulfill this vision. He said that the officials can meet him whenever he wants to solve the problems that are related to the public and he is always available to them. He assured all possible help to the officials to increase the production and availability of water in Delhi. Delhi Jal Board officials welcomed this confidence-building initiative from the new Vice Chairman.
Shri Somnath Bharti said that focus on crisis management and rational distribution of water is necessary to improve the water supply situation in Delhi. For providing adequate quantity of water to the residents of Delhi, disruption in water supply must be eliminated in a short time. Rational distribution of water should also be emphasised upon so that water can reach every household of Delhi. Rational distribution of water can help reduce the impact created by the water supply-demand gap. Water needs of Delhi residents can be met despite limited resources if there is judicious distribution of water.
