High Court notice to Centre, Delhi govt, Bassi on beggars' homes

The Arvind Kejriwal government has appointed S S Yadav as the new CEO of the Delhi Jal Board ahead of a harsh summer, a move aimed at toning up the public utility which caters to a key vote bank of the ruling AAP in unauthorised colonies.

Yadav replaces Vijay Kumar who was hand-picked by the chief minister in 2014 during his 49-day stint for preparing the blueprint of his favourite free-water scheme.

Till now, the new DJB chief was serving in the Food and Supplies Department and was largely responsible for introducing key e-governance initiatives for ration card holders. Vijay Kumar will be the new head of the Food and Supplies Department.

Sources in the government said Yadav has been tasked to make a plan for optimal use of the additional Yamuna water that is flowing from the Munak Canal into Delhi from Haryana.

Water allocation
“The reduction of water allocation to the NDMC area to meet the requirements in unauthorised colonies will also be examined,” said an aide to Chief Minister.

Adequate water supply for all is a key promise of the AAP government, which is going to try its best to use tankers and new water ATMs – being installed under a central government Budget scheme – to meet public expectations.

The DJB supplies only 834 million gallons a day (MGD) of water to the capital, including 100 MGD of groundwater, where as the demand is close to 1,100 MGD.
“Right now it’s hard to say how much water we lose due to leakage or theft. The district meter area (DMA) scheme has been launched and it will update us with the situation very soon,” said a DJB official.

But by its own admission earlier, the DJB reported 40 per cent of water supplied as “non-revenue water”, meaning leaks in the distribution system coupled with challenges in meter reading and billing as well as theft from illegal connections.