People living in JJ clusters in Delhi will not have to stand in queues for long for water tankers as the Government plans to install around 1,000 RO water vending machines there by the end of next year which will operate 24X7.
The water ATMs will be installed on the existing tube wells at Government facilities, such as those belonging to the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board, a Government official said.
The proposal comes ahead of the Municipal Corporation elections due in April 2022.
"The work on the project will get underway by April 2022 and will be completed by December 2022," the official said.
These water dispensing systems will gradually replace tankers which cause a lot of inconvenience to people dwelling in such clusters, he said. “People in JJ clusters have to wait in long queues for hours for a tanker which becomes empty within 15 minutes of reaching the area.
Many times, the tanker never reaches them.
“Now, RO-filtered water will be provided 24X7 through these dispensing systems,” the official said.
A 100 kilolitre dispensing system will be installed for every 500 households or 2,000 people, which means 250 to 200 litres of drinking water per family per day.
The Delhi Jal Board (DJB) is also considering providing a card to each household so that every family gets a fixed minimum quantity of water every day.
“There will be a proper mechanism to prevent overuse of water.
A fixed quantity will be dispensed per household per day. There will be no queues and long waits as these vending machines will operate 24X7,” the official said.
With their installation, water availability per household also stands to increase.
According to the official, a DJB tanker carries 3,000 litres of water and even if five tankers are sent to an area per day, people get a maximum of 15,000 litres.
But here, one vending machine will dispense 100,000 litres of water, he said.
Considering salary of drivers, fuel, and other operational and maintenance costs, it costs the DJB Rs 150-200 to supply 1000 litres of water through tankers.
The cost per 1000 litres of water through vending machines will be much less, he added. Another official told PTI on condition of anonymity that tankers waste a lot of water in transit from one point to another.