In an attempt to rein in water tanker mafia, the new CEO of Delhi Jal Board Vijay Kumar has constituted a Task Force which will inspect the workings of the tanker services and take necessary action wherever required. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also said the Government will take action against DJB employees if their involvement is found with water mafia. “If within two hours the tankers do not reach the destination, strict action will be taken against the driver. All the details of the drivers and tankers will be uploaded on the DJB website for people to check and complain in case of a problem,” he said.
The Task Force which has commenced work and has been directed to submit a report by January 6, is headed by Nandini Paliwal, Additional CEO, DJB with four Superintending Engineers, one Executive Engineer and one Deputy Director (Enforcement) as Members. The Task Force members are carrying out inspections to audit the tanker services at the field level.
In a meeting of Delhi Jal Board officers held on Saturday at the headquarters, Kumar emphasized that the utility must take into account the winds of change and cannot carry on with business as usual. He said, “Change is the key word and we need to respond to the change. We have to be seen to be changing to meet customer needs and expectations.”
Keeping in view the service delivery point as the most critical and important in DJB’s operations, the CEO directed all officers, Chief Engineer downwards, to closely supervise and monitor this vital area of DJB’s functioning in all the divisions. “CEO has also directed that the tanker utilization is to be personally monitored by Executive Engineers themselves. The Executive Engineers were also asked to check at the delivery end of the tanker services by obtaining direct feedback from the consumers,” said an official of the DJB.