Amid a crippling water crisis in the national Capital, Delhi Minister Atishi has reached out to Delhi Police Commissioner Sanjay Arora, requesting police personnel to guard significant pipelines in the Capital against potential sabotage attempts. Atishi claimed Delhi Jal Board's patrolling team found signs of sabotage of pipelines at several spots.
In a letter to Delhi police commissioner Sanjay Arora, Atishi wrote: "I am writing to request deployment of police personnel to patrol and protect our major pipelines for the next 15 days to stop miscreants or people with ulterior motives from tampering water pipelines which have now become Delhi's lifelines. At this juncture any foul play and sabotage will worsen the already difficult water shortage being faced by the people of Delhi."
She detailed that the Delhi Jal Board has dedicated patrolling teams for the main water distribution network. These teams ensure water is safely transported from Water Treatment Plants (WTPs) to crucial underground reservoirs across the city. She added that additional support teams supervised by ADMs are also in place to assist. Atishi claimed that the ground patrolling team discovered damage to water supply pipelines at certain spots.
"Yesterday our ground patrolling team reported a major leakage in our South Delhi Rising Mains, the main water pipeline that carries water from Sonia Vihar WTP) to South Delhi. This was near the DTL sub station in Garhi Medhu. Our patrolling team found that several large 375 mm bolts and one 12 inch bolt had been cut from the pipeline causing the leakage. The fact that several large bolts had been cut seems to indicate foul play and sabotage," she claimed.
She said a large quantity of water couldn't be supplied to the people of Delhi, exacerbating the crisis.
In the letter to the Delhi Police Commissioner, Atishi informed him of a major leakage being reported by the ground patrolling team in the South Delhi Rising Mains pipeline, which is the main water pipeline that carries water from the Sonia Vihar water treatment plant to South Delhi.
On Saturday, the Delhi Jal Board patrolling team found five bolts of 375 mm and a 12-inch bolt to be separated from the South Delhi Rising Mains pipeline near the Garhi Mendu transformer. A six-hour shutdown was initiated to stop the leakage and repair the pipeline.
“The fact that several large bolts had been cut seems to indicate foul play and sabotage," the letter read.
The minister informed of this development in a post on X: “The repair work went on from 4 pm to 10 pm. During this time, the water supply to South Delhi had to be stopped. As a result, about 25 per cent less water reached South Delhi today.”
In the letter, she wrote about the necessity of the action and alleged potential foul play, “This would be very important for putting a stop to miscreants or people with ulterior motives from tampering with our water pipelines, which have now become Delhi’s lifelines. At this juncture, any foul play and sabotage will worsen the already difficult water shortage being faced by the people of Delhi.”
Presently, the Delhi government has deployed ground patrolling teams for the main water distribution network, which carries raw water to water treatment plants and then to underground reservoirs across the city. Teams constituted by tehsildars, additional district magistrates, and sub-divisional magistrates also support the supervision work.
