Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Thursday approved the budget proposals worth Rs.3,951.78 crore of the Delhi Jal Board, a bulk of which will be spent on improving water supply and sewerage facility in the city, especially in regularised colonies, and on improving revenue collection by installing new meters across the city.
The Board of the water utility, chaired by Ms. Dikshit, approved the DJB’s budget of Rs.1,869.35 crore for the plan and Rs.2,082.43 crore for the non-plan expenditure for the year 2013-14.
The Board net cash revenue surplus has increased, said DJB chief executive officer Debashree Mukherjee. “In the last four years it has gone up from Rs.40.56 crore in 2007-08 to the expected surplus of Rs.233.57 crore during 2013-14.The DJB’s dependence on the government for operational costs has been reduced from Rs.380 crore in 2009-10 to zero in 2013-14.”
The Board approved the total plan Budget of Rs.1,665.00 crore for the water and sewerage sectors. While the former will get Rs.890.20 crore, sewerage sector has been allocated Rs.774.80 crore.
While presenting the budget, Ms. Mukherjee said the primary focus areas will be extending the water network to both planned and unplanned areas, minimising water leakages, full domestic metering and augmentation of production capacity.
To bridge the gap of around 200 MGD in raw water needs, the DJB has been pushing for the construction of three stream storage dams on the Yamuna, she said, adding that the construction of raw water link mains from Haiderpur to Wazirabad has been completed. It will facilitate transfer of raw water from one plant to the other.
The city’s waste water treatment capacity is also going to be increased from 544 MGD to 628 MGD in 2013-14 after commissioning of Yamuna Vihar, Kondli, Kapashera and Chilla sewage treatment plants with a substantial enhancement in the treatment capacity, Ms. Mukherjee said.
Additional underground reservoirs with booster pumping stations are being constructed and commissioned to improve the distribution network in far flung areas and 200 km of old pipelines are being replaced and 300 km of new pipelines added to cover additional areas, she said.
To ensure optimal utilisation of all STPs, new trunk services have been laid to extend sewerage facilities to new areas including unauthorised colonies, urban villages and some regularised colonies.
The Board has approved the plan to rehabilitate Chandrawal Water Treatment Plant and infrastructure in its command area and will enhance works to distribute potable water to the urban poor in unauthorised colonies.
“Three pilot projects under the Public Private Partnership model of management have been initiated with an ultimate objective to transform the system from the existing intermittent water supply to a continuous supply of water 24 hours a day, thus bringing down the non-revenue water supply in Malviya Nagar, Nangloi and Mehrauli – Vasant Vihar colonies,” she said.
Referring to the efforts to bring down non-revenue water and to bring about accountability in water usage, the Board approved maintenance and installation of new meters in Delhi at a total cost of Rs.1,73,68,85,000 for seven years. The Board also approved for installation and maintenance for four years AMR water meter with remote reading device capable of transmitting data through GPS technology for various sizes of bulk water connections at a total cost of Rs.26,81,46,125.
To provide sewerage systems in unauthorised colonies, the Board approved the proposal to lay sewer lines in several areas including Mahaveer Enclave, Kailashpuri Extension, Sagarpur and Durga Park. Sewer lines are also being laid in Pul Prahaladpur, Vishwakarma Colony, and a new 10 MGD Sewage Treatment Plant at Coronation Pillar in place of the old 10 MGD STP has been approved.
