New Delhi, Jan 9 (PTI) The Delhi government has identified around 7,900 km of 20 to 30-year-old pipelines which will be replaced in the next two-three years to ensure supply of clean drinking water to city residents, Water Minister Parvesh Verma informed the Assembly on Friday.
Responding to questions and demands raised by BJP MLA Satish Upadhyay, Verma said in the past 11 months, the Delhi government has started development works worth Rs 7,212 crore.
“Delhi government is working with the Centre to provide drinking water to each household. We are fully committed to ensuring clean, equitable and continuous water supply to every household in Delhi,” he asserted.
In a veiled jibe at the previous AAP government, Verma said, “We did not create these problems, we inherited them. The difference is we are not running away from responsibility, we are delivering solutions.” The water minister further said out of Delhi’s 16,000-km water pipeline network, over 5,200 km of pipelines are more than 30 years old and around 2,700-km pipelines are 20 years old.
“As a result, the city has been facing frequent leakages, pipeline bursts, contamination risks and non-revenue water losses of up to 55 per cent,” he said.
To increase drinking water production in the capital, the government is also in talks with neighbouring states. “We are trying to get raw drinking water from Uttar Pradesh and Haryana and in exchange give them treated water for irrigation purposes. This arrangement has the potential to add 30 million gallons per day (MGD) of water to the national capital’s total supply,” Verma said.
Verma told the Assembly that the Chandrawal and Wazirabad water reform projects, proposed as early as 2011, “remained stalled for years due to the indecision, repeated tender cancellations and conflicts with funding agencies under the previous government”.
The Delhi government has revived two major water supply projects, Chandrawal and Wazirabad, aiming to improve the city’s water infrastructure, he said.
“The Chandrawal project, worth Rs 2,406 crore, involves laying 1,044 km of new pipelines and constructing 21 underground reservoirs, benefiting nine assembly constituencies. The Wazirabad project, a Rs 3,715 crore initiative with Asian Development Bank assistance, includes 1,697 km of new pipelines and 14 underground reservoirs, covering 11 assembly constituencies,” Verma added.
The water minister also said to reduce water contamination, broken and damaged pipeline replacement work has started.
“Water losses through Manak canal, which is around 40 per cent as of now, will be reduced to 5 per cent in the next two years. We have initiated a plan for that. This will also help in achieving our round-the-clock water supply promise to very household of Delhi,” Verma said.
In order to boost water supply, the Delhi government is also reviving a 113 MGD water sharing project with Himachal Pradesh, he added.
The DJB has also initiated a plan to pick up sewage inside septic tanks wherever they are installed. “We plan to hire 300 trucks which will transfer the sewage from houses to sewage treatment plants,” Verma said.
Along with this, Rs 170 crore has been allocated for cleaning of 100 km of trunk sewer lines. PTI SSM VIT ARB ARB
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