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