Water woes mount, no solution in sight
NEW DELHI: The water department has been under the chief minister's direct control for the past 15 years. As chairperson of Delhi Jal Board, Sheila Dikshit has been responsible for not only the water supply in the city but also the Yamuna, failure to clean which has become a major embarrassment for the government.
At present, Delhi produces around 835 million gallons per day (MGD) of water—at least 300MGD short of the actual demand. The CM's biggest challenge in her current term, and maybe the state's biggest failure, has been to get Haryana to release 80MGD from the Munak canal. While the Congress government in Haryana remains adamant, three completed treatment plants in Delhi await water while many thousands of Delhiites get no water or barely once a day.
The government's most controversial step has been to introduce public-private partnership in water distribution. Delhi's supply is marked by leaking pipelines and massive wastage, and the government was keen to bring in private players to streamline distribution and billing. The biggest advantage of this model, DJB has claimed, is that the pilot areas will get 24x7 water supply.
"Delhi's water supply system is old and the city has been expanding continuously. It is a nightmarish task to keep up with the growing demand, especially since Delhi is dependent largely on neighbouring states for raw water. We need the private sector to streamline processes and curtail losses and this will only mean more water per capita," said a DJB official.
The step, critics say, indicates the government's inability to provide basic facilities to the people. Water is a necessity and, on principle, should be the government's responsibility, they say.
To enhance supply, DJB is recycling 45MGD water at its treatment plants. It has also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Singapore government for a new treatment plant that will make sewage fit to be mixed with raw water upstream of the river and then further treated to potable levels. Distribution, however, remains a huge challenge. While underground reservoirs have improved conditions for consumers, there is a wide disparity in the quantity supplied to various parts of the city. This ranges from about 50 litres per capita per day to around 250 lpcd or even more in certain NDMC areas.
To deal with pollution in the Yamuna, DJB has initiated the interceptor sewage system. This will intercept sewage from Delhi's main drains, treat and then release it into the river. While this scheme has been questioned for its efficacy, questions have been raised about the thousands of crores spent on cleaning the Yamuna without any results.
"There have been court orders on the Yamuna, directing the Delhi government and various civic agencies to take steps to prevent untreated sewage from entering the river. Despite that, several sewage treatment plants continue to work at half their capacity since they do not receive sufficient input. Several areas are also yet to be connected to the sewerage," said Vinod Jain, director of the NGO Tapas.
To end its extremely chaotic billing system, DJB has recently launched an online revenue management system. Although people are still getting inflated bills, officials say the problem will be dealt with completely by the end of 2013. Hand-held meter readers will replace the manual entry system.
DJB has also been put in charge of managing the city's ground water but the government has so far failed to bring in the ground water bill that would put a price tag on ground water extraction. DJB is clearing requests for bore wells without maintaining a record of how many exist in the city. New bores are being sanctioned only for community use and this has helped to reduce extraction and slow down the rate of ground water depletion. It is also streamlining the process for rainwater harvesting. The water utility has been providing incentives and assistance to individuals and agencies which carry out rain water harvesting.
The agency has however failed to clamp down on the tanker mafia. The mafia is dependent on illegal extraction of water and has been found to collude with staff to siphon off DJB supply and sell it. These tankers are tolerated since they cater to a large market in the city that would otherwise become DJB's responsibility.
Source - TOI - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Water-woes-mount-no-solution-in-sight/articleshow/22774660.cms
At present, Delhi produces around 835 million gallons per day (MGD) of water—at least 300MGD short of the actual demand. The CM's biggest challenge in her current term, and maybe the state's biggest failure, has been to get Haryana to release 80MGD from the Munak canal. While the Congress government in Haryana remains adamant, three completed treatment plants in Delhi await water while many thousands of Delhiites get no water or barely once a day.
The government's most controversial step has been to introduce public-private partnership in water distribution. Delhi's supply is marked by leaking pipelines and massive wastage, and the government was keen to bring in private players to streamline distribution and billing. The biggest advantage of this model, DJB has claimed, is that the pilot areas will get 24x7 water supply.
"Delhi's water supply system is old and the city has been expanding continuously. It is a nightmarish task to keep up with the growing demand, especially since Delhi is dependent largely on neighbouring states for raw water. We need the private sector to streamline processes and curtail losses and this will only mean more water per capita," said a DJB official.
The step, critics say, indicates the government's inability to provide basic facilities to the people. Water is a necessity and, on principle, should be the government's responsibility, they say.
To enhance supply, DJB is recycling 45MGD water at its treatment plants. It has also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Singapore government for a new treatment plant that will make sewage fit to be mixed with raw water upstream of the river and then further treated to potable levels. Distribution, however, remains a huge challenge. While underground reservoirs have improved conditions for consumers, there is a wide disparity in the quantity supplied to various parts of the city. This ranges from about 50 litres per capita per day to around 250 lpcd or even more in certain NDMC areas.
To deal with pollution in the Yamuna, DJB has initiated the interceptor sewage system. This will intercept sewage from Delhi's main drains, treat and then release it into the river. While this scheme has been questioned for its efficacy, questions have been raised about the thousands of crores spent on cleaning the Yamuna without any results.
"There have been court orders on the Yamuna, directing the Delhi government and various civic agencies to take steps to prevent untreated sewage from entering the river. Despite that, several sewage treatment plants continue to work at half their capacity since they do not receive sufficient input. Several areas are also yet to be connected to the sewerage," said Vinod Jain, director of the NGO Tapas.
To end its extremely chaotic billing system, DJB has recently launched an online revenue management system. Although people are still getting inflated bills, officials say the problem will be dealt with completely by the end of 2013. Hand-held meter readers will replace the manual entry system.
DJB has also been put in charge of managing the city's ground water but the government has so far failed to bring in the ground water bill that would put a price tag on ground water extraction. DJB is clearing requests for bore wells without maintaining a record of how many exist in the city. New bores are being sanctioned only for community use and this has helped to reduce extraction and slow down the rate of ground water depletion. It is also streamlining the process for rainwater harvesting. The water utility has been providing incentives and assistance to individuals and agencies which carry out rain water harvesting.
The agency has however failed to clamp down on the tanker mafia. The mafia is dependent on illegal extraction of water and has been found to collude with staff to siphon off DJB supply and sell it. These tankers are tolerated since they cater to a large market in the city that would otherwise become DJB's responsibility.
Source - TOI - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Water-woes-mount-no-solution-in-sight/articleshow/22774660.cms