Broken earthen pots and torn placards lay strewn on the road leading up to the Delhi Secretariat on Tuesday after the Bharatiya Janata Party led a protest demanding better water supply to South Delhi’s residential colonies.
The memorandum addressed to Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, who is also the Delhi Jal Board chairperson, requested that additional DJB water tankers be provided and that full connectivity of Sonia Vihar water treatment plant to all South Delhi residential colonies be ensured.
“The poor citizens of South Delhi’s residential colonies and village areas are facing severe water shortage. With the onset of summer, there is intense heat but not enough drinking water in unauthorised and authorised urban residential colonies, including the villages in South Delhi. DJB Summer Action Plan is eagerly awaited. So we are today demonstrating at your office for drinking water,” stated the memorandum. The demonstration, led by Delhi BJP vice-president and spokesman Vijay Jolly, had representatives from places such as Sangam Vihar, Deoli Village, Raju Park, Krishna Park, Tigri J.J. Camp, Dakshinpuri and other affected colonies.
“The Jal Board headed by you has repeatedly failed to supply continuous fresh drinking water to our residents. Out of 360 villages, DJB supplies water to only 135 villages in Delhi. Out of 1,639 unauthorized colonies, DJB is connected to only 560 colonies. This is the poor report card of Delhi Jal Board, headed by you,” the memorandum further stated.
The group also said that DJB’s much awaited ‘Summer Action Plan’ had not been formulated or announced and the old water pipelines have not been replaced. “Private water business is worth around Rs. 1,000 crore in Delhi but still 36 per cent of households do not receive water,” added the memorandum.
