Residents of Sangam Vihar and Deoli Village on Tuesday marched a protest at the Delhi Secretariat against the State Government’s negligence towards shortage of water supply in their localities. The protest was led by senior Delhi BJP leader Vijay Jolly and a memorandum was handed to Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on the same issue.
Ram Karan, a resident of Tigri Colony complained, “We have no water supply. The DJB tankers come only four times a month and we have to pay a minimum of `500 to them. Despite several visits to DJB, no official is ready to take our complaint.”
Vijay Jolly, who was in the forefront of the protest said, “Delhi Jal Board headed by CM has repeatedly failed to supply fresh drinking water to our residents. The DJB’s much awaited Summer Action Plan has not been formulated and announced. Despite remaining in power for 15 years, the Government still has not connected Sonia Vihar with regular water lines to Sangam Vihar and other unauthorised colonies.”
Seeking immediate action by the Government in the issue, Jolly further added that ‘Tanker Water Mafia’ is having a field day by charging Rs 1000-1500 per tanker. “Contaminated unfit water is supplied by private operators extracting ground water and supplying it without treatment. Private water business is around Rs 1000 crore in Delhi. But still 36 per cent of house households in Delhi do not receive water,” he maintained.
Defending Delhi Jal Board’s stand, Chief Executive Officer Debashree Mukherjee said, “We send water tankers regularly. The roads in those colonies are very narrow. Hence, tankers may not have reached at times. Other than this, we have dug bore wells also in these areas.”