Delhi Water and Finance Minister Atishi on Thursday wrote to the Chief Secretary regarding the state of sewer overflow in the national Capital and claimed that the city has been turned into a living hell because an artificial financial crisis has been created in Delhi Jal Board (DJB).

Issuing a series of orders to Naresh Kumar, Atishi asserted that it will be the personal responsibility of the Chief Secretary to oversee the resolution of the sewer related crisis that has been created in Delhi.

She visited Mohan Garden D Block, A-Extension Mohan Garden and DK Road in Uttam Nagar on Wednesday after getting repeated complaints from residents regarding sewer related problems. “I have been informed that on numerous occasions local residents and the area MLA, Naresh Balyan, had sent these grievances to the Delhi Jal Board (DJB). These grievances also reached me via emails and social media,” she said.

“When I reached there, the state of sewer overflow was absolutely shocking. These localities have been turned into a living hell. This kind of sewage overflow is a breeding ground for several diseases and can cause a serious public health crisis,” she added. The senior AAP leader said that the residents informed them that the DJB officials, upon receiving the complaints, claimed that they do not have machines and manpower due to lack of funds.

“The national capital could come to a standstill if DJB fails to do its work properly. A budget of Rs.7195.00 crore has been passed by the Delhi assembly which is 9.5 per cent of the total budget of Government of NCT of Delhi. This budget has been approved by the Council of Ministers, the LG, MHA and the Delhi Assembly.

However, in this entire financial year only Rs 400 crores has been released to the DJB so far,” she claimed.

Minister Atishi shared that files keep shuttling between DJB, Urban Development Department and Finance Department but the DJB remains starved of funds. “When the government has allocated a large budget for the DJB, proper deployment of machinery and manpower needs to be done on the ground.

Otherwise, the officers busy shuttling the files and causing a financial crisis in DJB will be held responsible for creating a public health crisis and epidemic-like situation in Delhi,” she added.

She directed Kumar to ensure adequate deployment of manpower and machinery in every part of the city to ensure that there are no sewer overflows causing inconvenience to the people of Delhi. Atishi ordered him to ensure release of funds to the DJB from the budget that has been allocated to them within the next 48 hours and take the strongest possible action against all officers responsible for creating this artificial fund crisis that has brought Delhi on the verge of a major public health crisis.