Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday expressed displeasure over “laxity” in the work of installation of reverse-osmosis (RO) plants in water-scarce areas of the national capital and directed officials to complete it soon. Under a pilot project, the Delhi Jal Board is setting up 30 RO plants of 50,000 litres per day (50 KLD) capacity. Two such plants have already been installed at Jharoda and Shakur Basti. Two more are coming up in the Hari Nagar assembly constituency.
“A total of more than 450 places in Delhi were identified for installation of RO systems, laxity is being seen in this work, on which the chief minister expressed his displeasure and gave strict instructions that this work should be done seriously and soon,” the chief minister’s office (CMO) said on Twitter.
The Delhi government is installing 500 RO plants with tube wells in water-stressed areas, including unauthorised colonies. Currently, residents in such areas depend on water tankers.
It said that at a review meeting, Kejriwal gave strict instructions to officials that no laxity and delay will be acceptable in the work of providing clean water to the people of Delhi.
“Action should be taken on priority basis on the complaint of dirty water and there should be a permanent solution to that problem. Damaged flow-meters on water treatment plants and primary underground reservoirs should be repaired with immediate effect so that the government has information about the availability and supply of water,” the CMO said in another tweet.
At the review meeting to take stock of the water supply, Kejriwal has strictly directed the Water Department and Delhi Jal Board to resolve the problem on war footing. During the meeting, Kejriwal said that he has been frequently receiving complaints of contaminated water supply from across the city. He directed the department to identify areas which get poor quality of water regularly and reach the root cause of the problem on priority.
The chief minister also directed the DJB to repair all flow meters installed at Water Treatment Plants (WTPs) and Primary Underground Reservoirs (UGRs) within the next 15 days. The Chief Minister has also decided to personally monitor the production and supply of water in Delhi and has directed the department to submit daily reports.