Delhi govt to reduce water connection charges install GPS in tankers Minister Parvesh Verma

New Delhi, Mar 13 (PTI) The BJP government will soon reduce water connection charges and install GPS in all the tankers of the Delhi Jal Board besides monitoring outflows from Underground Water Reservoirs (UGRs) to improve supply in the national capital, Water Minister Parvesh Verma said on Thursday.
     In an interview with PTI, Verma, who holds PWD and flood and irrigation portfolios, said a new and easy-to-remember four-digit helpline number will be issued soon for the public to lodge their complaints with the public works department (PWD).
     "We will undertake various reforms in the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) that suffered mismanagement in the past. Currently, the water management of DJB is not proper, but we will bring it back on track through various initiatives," he said.
     The water connection rates are currently high enough to "discourage" people from having legal connections. Bringing them down will encourage people to get connections legally, he said.
     "People should come forward on their own to have legal water connections. We will give a deadline for getting legal connections and penalties will be imposed on those who do not come forward for legal connections," he said.
     The minister said according to rough estimates, there are around 20 lakh legal connections in the city while the number of power connections is 50 lakh.
     "Every building having electricity connection must also have water connection. According to this simple calculation, there must be around 30 lakh illegal connections," he said.
     A new tender is also being floated for GPS-fitted tankers supplying water," he said.
     The water minister said local residents and MLAs will be involved with monitoring of water supply through tankers and a dashboard for real-time verification of their movements will be put in place.
     "The number of trips of tankers will be increased to 16 every day so that water supply in the summers is strengthened," he said.
     "I have directed for fitting GPS in every tanker, making lists of water supply points and maintaining proper documents," he said.
     The minister said the outflow of water from the UGRs will be monitored to estimate revenue and losses.
     All these steps will ensure an improved water supply and also plug losses made by the DJB, Verma said.
     A water distribution management system will be developed to ensure the supply of water in all areas of the city without any unauthorised tapping of the mainlines, he said.
     The minister said Haryana supplies water to Delhi according to an agreement.
     "Haryana does not release less water to Delhi. If we make any request, the state will increase water supplied to Delhi," he said.
     The under-construction Chandrawal water treatment plant will be completed by June 2027, Verma said and added it will cater to 11 per cent of Delhi. "We will also replace non-functional tube wells in the old Delhi areas," he said.
     The PWD will soon issue a four-digit helpline number for people to lodge complaints related to road maintenance, waterlogging and other services provided by the department.
     The current helpline is a 10-digit number that is hard to remember. "We have a list of 10 options of four-digit numbers, one of which will be finalised and released for the public soon," he said.
     The PWD minister hoped that the work on the Barapulla flyover will be completed after requisite permission for tree-felling is granted by the central empowered committee.
     He said the BJP government is working in a mission mode to ensure cleaning and rejuvenating the Yamuna river.
     Verma, part of a group of ministers headed by Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, said the panel will meet to discuss the implementation of the Mahila Samriddhi Yojna to provide Rs 2,500 monthly to needy women.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)