Atishi meets Kejriwal in Tihar over water crisis

New Delhi, June 13

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday instructed Cabinet Minister Atishi from Tihar Jail that all the MLAs should go among the people on the ground and work to solve the water problem of the people.

Police begin patrolling along Munak canal

• The Delhi Police have started patrolling the Munak canal area to monitor the activities of the tanker mafia. A senior officer stated, “Police teams have set up pickets and started patrolling the 15-km stretch of the canal on the Haryana border.” The canal, which enters Delhi from Bawana and reaches the Haiderpur treatment plant, is under strict surveillance.
• The patrolling has been assigned to teams from Bawana, Narela Industrial Area, Shahbad Dairy, and Samai Pur Badali police stations. “Police personnel have been asked to prevent anyone from taking water from the canal in their tankers,”the officer added.
• This initiative follows Lieutenant-Governor VK Saxena’s directive on Wednesday to submit an action taken report within a week.

Atishi along with AAP Rajya Sabha MP from Punjab Raghav Chadha met Kejriwal in jail regarding the water crisis in the National Capital.

The Delhi Minister said, “Even today, during the meeting, the CM first took a report on the status of electricity and water in Delhi. The Chief Minister said that he came to know through the news that there is a water crisis in Delhi and people are troubled.” She said that he had instructed her to take whatever steps were required to be taken to overcome the water shortage in Delhi as soon as possible.

She further said, “From the jail, he (Kejriwal) has given instructions to all the MLAs that they should go to the ground, stay among the people and work to solve the water problem of the people.”

Atishi also conducted a ground inspection along with senior officials of the Revenue Department and Delhi Jal Board (DJB).

They inspected the main pipeline network carrying water from Sonia Vihar Water Treatment Plant from East Delhi to South Delhi.

An official said, Atishi instructed the officials to increase patrolling across the city and if any leakage is found in the main pipeline anywhere, it should be removed immediately.

Atishi said, “Even if the entire tanker mafia is cracked down upon, Delhi’s water problem will not be solved. Delhi’s water problem will be solved only by releasing water into the Yamuna,” Atishi said.

Addressing the issue of water theft, she stressed the need for coordinated action. “If the tanker mafia is stealing water in Haryana, then Haryana Police should take action and if they are stealing water in Delhi, then Delhi Police should take action,” she said.

She also urged residents to report water leaks by tagging the DJB on Twitter. “We will fix that leakage immediately,” she stated.

The Delhi Jal Board has formed Enforcement Teams to check water pilferage. “Till now 1,323 challans have been issued for water wastage,” Atishi noted, adding that connections have been cut where drinking water was being used for construction or in an unauthorised manner.

In a bid to dispel alleged rumors about widespread water leaks, Atishi said, “Rumours are being spread that water is leaking from pipelines at many places in Delhi. This is not true at all. We have deployed a team of several officers who are monitoring the water distribution pipelines.” During an inspection near Akshardham, she observed ‘not even a drop of water was flowing in the 1.5 km long pipeline’.

The minister also highlighted the progress made in reducing transmission losses and upgrading infrastructure. “Earlier, there was 30 per cent transmission loss in the water coming from Haryana, which we have brought down to five per cent,” she stated.

“To prevent water leakage and waste, 3,500 km pipeline has been replaced and 7,300 km pipeline has been laid due to which now water reaches clusters and slum colonies in a dignified manner.” she added.

Atishi said the Delhi Government has presented detailed reports in the Supreme Court on the work done this year to reduce water wastage and ensure efficient water distribution amid the crisis.