Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has taken away the Water portfolio from Rajender Pal Gautam and kept it with himself. The announcement was made on Monday while the CM also called for an urgent meeting of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) on the same day. The water supply issue within Delhi is believed to be the reason behind the CM’s decision to take reins of this critical department.
This is Kejriwal’s first ministerial portfolio since taking over as CM in February 2015.
Kejriwal convened a meeting of the senior officers of the DJB on Monday evening and took stock of the situation. “This decision was basically taken after concerns over the reports of contaminated drinking water supply,” Delhi Government spokesperson Nagender Sharma told The Pioneer.
The CM has asked for the current status of water supply in all the colonies of Delhi on the very first day of holding the charge in a meeting. “The DJB has been asked to furnish a report on timing of water supply in every colony, the duration of supply and problems faced, including water contamination. They have been asked to come up with a deadline for the resolution of the problems,” said an official.
Kejriwal directed that on the basis of current duty chart, vacant posts be filled up by promoting officers and vacancies at lower level be filled up on contract basis, till regular appointments are done by the Delhi Subordinates Services Selection Board (DSSSB) and the Union Public Service Commission. The CM has asked for Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC) to do the requisite work immediately.
The DJB will make a presentation to the CM on Friday on the Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) to be set-up in a decentralised manner in all colonies across the city.
He has asked the officers to look at the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) model of decentralised STPs which has resulted in lowering of pollutants rate and has been widely appreciated.
The CM has also asked for a specific deadline by which the DJB will be able to map colonies without tap water and the deadline for laying the pipelines. “The DJB has been asked to furnish details within a week of how much water is actually reaching to the consumers and the difference between water generated and supplied to consumers”, the official added.
The CM also ensured that the procurement of sewer cleaning machines should be done at the earliest. Atleast 10 people died in Delhi at different location while manually cleaning the drains. “The DJB says it is already in the process of procuring 200 small machines and 8 large machines. There are 40 STPs that are fully functional, the official added.”