On Friday, Water Minister Atishi sternly instructed the Chief Secretary to immediately address the issues of sewer overflow, contaminated water supply, and pipeline leaks in Delhi. Nearly 80 complaints from the public about sewer overflow and pipeline leakage have been received in just one day and Water Minister Atishi forwarded it to the Chief Secretary, giving a 48-hour ultimatum to resolve these problems.
Water Minister Atishi stated that over 10,000 complaints on the Jal Board’s 1916 helpline remain unresolved. Despite repeated instructions to the CEO and senior officials, there is no improvement at the ground level. Many people are compelled to live in inhumane conditions due to these unaddressed issues. Additionally, officials are not submitting weekly inspection reports, raising concerns about their intentions. Does this imply that officials are unwilling to alleviate the sewage overflow and contaminated water supply issues for the people of Delhi, despite directives?
She mentioned that since the CEO and officials of DJB are not paying attention to complaints, all Delhi Jal Board complaints will now be directly forwarded to the Chief Secretary. The Water Minister instructed the Chief Secretary to find short-term solutions for all issues related to the public’s Jal Board within 48 hours and to completely resolve the problem within the week.
Water Minister Atishi stated, “In the last 24 hours alone, I have received 80 complaints regarding sewer overflow, contaminated water, and pipeline leakage. These are among the hundreds of complaints that I have received just in the past week. Additionally, there are over 10,000 unresolved complaints on the Jal Board’s 1916 complaint resolution portal.”
She mentioned, “I have brought several of these complaints to the attention of the CEO of DJB, but despite that, there has been no change in the ground-level situation. I am surprised that despite repeated complaints, senior DJB officials have not taken any long-term corrective action in this matter. As a result, the people of Delhi are being forced to live in inhumane conditions.”
Water Minister Atishi stated, “I have repeatedly directed the CEO-DJB, Member (Water), Member (Finance), Member (Drainage), and other officials to regularly conduct ground inspections to understand the problems faced by the public. Despite my instructions, the CEO, chief engineers, and other officials, who are required to send me their inspection reports every Monday, have not provided me with a single inspection report. It seems as if DJB officials prefer that the people of Delhi continue to live with overflowing sewers, contaminated water supply, and leaking pipelines.”
As sending complaints to the CEO and members of DJB has yielded no results, all complaints related to DJB will now be forwarded to the Chief Secretary. It will now be the responsibility of the Chief Secretary to resolve these issues.
In this matter, Water Minister Atishi has sternly directed the Chief Secretary to find short-term solutions for every issue within 48 hours and completely resolve the problems within the week.
