Delhiites will soon be able to check online about the movement of Jal Board’s water tankers in the national Capital. The Delhi Jal Board has also decided to get the highly infectious septage transported from septic tanks only through licenced agencies.
Even as the DJB was able to treat the highest ever 881 million gallon water per day of drinking water recently, many parts of the city have been facing water shortage. The maximum water being treated by the DJB was 835 mag last year. And areas where there is no piped water supply, the DJB supplies drinking water through its fleet of 900 tankers.
The Board monitors the movement of about 450 tankers through the GPS system. A senior DJB officer said very soon any one can access the information related to movement of water tankers through online.
The software developed for tracking the movement of the tankers will also provide details about the amount of water they are carrying, their exact location and the time at which they would be arriving at designated spots. Once the new Water Tanker Distribution Management System goes online, people can easily lodge their complaints if there is any delay in the supply of drinking water to their respective areas.
Also, the Jal Board is in the process of implementing the Delhi Water Board Septic Tank Waste Management Regul-ations-2015 to ensure there is no leakage of highly infectious septage during its transportation from septic tanks to the treatment plants. At present, a large number of tankers used for the transportation of septage have not been following the guidelines as a result of which they have been posing high risk to the health of Delhiites.
The Board will reportedly issue licences for transportation of septage to only those applicants who own leak, odour and spill-proof transporting vehicles with a proper vacuum suction and discharge arrangements. The vehicles should also have a valid permit of the transport department to operate in the national Capital.
The officer said it would be mandatory for the licencee to have adequate trained staff equipped with all safety gears to transport the septage. The Board will also be charging Rs10,000 as application fee for processing the application for grant of licence. The fee will be non-refundable.
The Board will also undertake an awareness campaign to make the people aware of these regulations as well as the need to engage only licenced agencies for collection, transportation and disposal of septage.