With the Delhi Jal Board launching an online portal on Monday, Delhiites can now track the whereabouts of water tankers. In a bid to improve transparency and curb the tanker mafia, the DJB’s website has a new feature where the user can enter their local tanker point’s address and find out where the tanker is, how long it will take to reach and how much water it is carrying.
While launching the portal, Deputy Chief Minister and DJB chairperson Manish Sisodia said: “This is a giant leap in bringing about transparency in government functioning and empowerment of the common people.”
The portal can be accessed on mobile phones, apart from computers, making it easier for people to track the tankers from anywhere. About 450 of the total 800 tankers have been fitted with GPS devices; work on the remaining is on.
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DJB vice-chairperson Kapil Mishra said: “I am sure the public monitoring of water tankers will prove to be a major deterrent against the tanker mafias operating in Delhi.”
Mr. Mishra later told The Hindu that the DJB would be launching a dedicated mobile app for tracking tankers soon. About 18 per cent of Delhi lacks piped water supply and depends on the DJB’s tanker service for clean drinking water.
Apart from information on tankers and their schedules, the portal also has details of the filling points, officials responsible for them and senior officers of the DJB. It also has a section where users can file their complaints and check the status.
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About 18% of Delhi lacks piped water supply and depends on the tanker service for clean drinking water