Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said his Government has decided to provide piped water to every household in the national Capital within five years. Kejriwal visited Dwarka Sector 16-C to inaugurate a 50 MGD water treatment plant (WTP) of Delhi Jal Board (DJB) and said he would soon approach Prime Minister Narendra Modi to seek funds for the same.
“There is still a major part of Delhi where people don’t get water through pipeline and they have to depend only on water tankers. We have set a target of providing water to every household through pipeline in five years. DJB officials will prepare a blueprint of this project,” Kejriwal said at the inauguration, his first since taking over as Delhi CM.
The WTP built at a cost of Rs750 crore, however, at present is supplying only 10 MGD of water due to less water being supplied by Haryana through the controversial Munak Canal. Kejriwal, accompanied by Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, said the blueprint of piped water plan for the entire State has been already prepared.
The CM said his Government is also working on rainwater harvesting system for Yamuna, among other areas, so that there is no shortage of water in the Capital and “we don’t need to depend on neighbouring States”.
Kejriwal, who recently wrote to his Haryana counterpart Ml Khattar on the issue of water from Munak Canal, said that he, along with West Delhi MP Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma, will soon meet Khattar requesting him to release Delhi’s share of water.
About 13.4 lakh residents are expected to benefit after full commissioning of the Dwarka plant. People living in the sub-city of Dwarka as well as Dabri, Sagarpur Group of Colonies, Jeevan Park, Uttam Nagar Group of Colonies and its adjoining areas and the command areas of Ujwa, Daulatpur and Nafajgarh will benefit from the plant. “Khattar wrote to me in reply to my recent letter, assuring that Haryana will release Delhi’s share of water. I will soon go to Chandigarh to meet him along with Verma and DJB officials to resolve the issue of Munak Canal,” he said.