New Delhi, April 2
Forty-six per cent of sewage generated in Delhi is flowing into the Yamuna untreated through storm water drains, said a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India that was tabled in the House meeting of Delhi Assembly today.

Out of the total 680 MGD sewage produced in the city, the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) collected only 367 MGD of sewage for treatment. The reason for such a shortfall in collection is that only 54 per cent population in Delhi is covered through sewage lines which collect sewage and carry it to various Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs), the report said.

A performance audit of 'Sewage Management in Delhi' that was conducted for the period 2007-12 stated that the quality of water treated by the DJB through its sewage treatment plants does not adhere to the prescribed standards.

"As per the tests conducted by the DJB, it did not analyse the standard of total coliform and faecal coliform at any of its plants which indicates contamination of water with faecal material," stated the report.

The procedure for collecting and testing samples is not adequate either.

The DJB added just one MGD capacity of STP and laid only 900 kms of sewer lines during 2007-12 after incurring an expenditure of Rs 1634.18 crore. It could not utilize grant-in-aid received under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) scheme during 2010-11 and 2011-12.

"The 15 different STPs managed by the DJB were found to be working below capacity and overall utilisation was only 53 per cent of the total capacity," the report mentioned.

On the construction of the STPs and Sewage Pumping Stations (SPSs), it indicated escalation of cost by Rs 92.74 crore due to delay in the award of work and loss due to release of advance to contractors. The maintenance of STPs and SPSs revealed irregular payment of taxes to the tune of Rs 19.24 crore and in-fructuous expenditure of Rs 10.20 crore.

Five of DJB's STPs have been graded as 'poor' and one 'very poor' in a study conducted by Central Pollution Control Board on the maintenance of STPs.

The report also noted that raw water available in Delhi at present is not sufficient to provide potable water to the population as per the prescribed norms. The production of potable water treatment plants and waste water recycling plants was also found to be below the designed capacity.

"Drinking water is not being distributed equitably amongst the population due to lack of reliable data on population and water supplied to different areas," underlined the report.

New Delhi, April 2
The cluster bus scheme that was launched by the Delhi Transport department in 2007 was implemented without a well-laid-out plan and agreement of the finance department, said the CAG report 2011-12 on social sector.

The report mentioned various irregularities in the functioning and utilisation of funds by the department.

The transport department undertook 20 schemes during the 11th five year plan period, the technical functions of which were carried out by private organizations like Delhi Integrated Multi-Model Transit System (DIMTS) in a non-transparent and non-competitive manner.

It also favoured the entities by circumventing rules or outright violations of provisions, cabinet decisions, guidelines, CVC orders and propriety.

The approvals related to the cluster bus scheme were obtained from the finance department as 'fait accompli'. The department did not follow the prescribed rules and continued to incur expenditure through different heads which were not related to the scheme.

"The award of work to M/s ESP on nomination basis was irregular and it also involved an unauthorized levy of fee to the company. The certificates of fitness for vehicles, issued by the firm, were potentially unreliable," the report said.

It also said that the firm was given undue advantages despite not being able to deliver the projects on time and put undue burden on the vehicle owners. The award of work related to BRT was given to the DIMTS, without an agreement with the finance department.

"Despite the fact that the DIMTS was privatized in July 2007 and other government agencies like PWD, DSIIDS, DTC, etc were available, the transport department continued assigning works to DIMTS on nomination basis which was irregular in the light of Central Vigilance Commission orders," it said. This resulted in excess payment of Rs 25.74 crore to DIMTS.

"The department was neither able to ensure delivery of its intended services nor safeguard the interests of the government or vehicle users," the report stated.

New Delhi, April 2
The BJP has demanded extension of Mayor's tenure from one year to two years in the interest of the government as one year is not sufficient to understand the functioning of the Municipal Corporation.

President of the Delhi BJP unit Vijay Goel said that the rotation system according to which the post of the Mayor is reserved for one year for woman followed by general and Scheduled Caste candidates is not fair. There is always pressure to change the Mayor. All parties should consider this problem and changethis system.

There should be a positive co-ordination between the Delhi government and the Municipal Corporations. The people of Delhi will benefit by it. It is regrettable that Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit does not miss any opportunity to condemn the Municipal Corporation of her own state, in spite of the fact that most of the top executive is appointed by the Delhi government. It is not in the interest of the people, he said.

He said that there is lack of vision in the government with regard to the functioning of the Municipal Corporations. Giving an example, he said that in London there is one councillor for every 1,000 citizens whereas in Delhi one councillor represents about 50,000 citizens. This needs deliberations.

He said that all this on the occasion of filing of nomination papers by B.B. Tyagi for the post of the Leader of the House, Ram Narayan Dubey for the post of Mayor, Mahendra Ahuja for the post of Deputy Mayor, Sanjay Surjan for Chairman of the Standing Committee and Sanjay Kaushik for Deputy Chairman of the committee for the East Delhi Municipal Corporation.

New Delhi, April 2
A five-year-old girl and a woman were allegedly raped in separate incidents in Alipur and Timarpur, located on the outskirts of Delhi on Monday.

In the first incident, a five-year-old girl was allegedly raped by her teenage neighbour in her house in Alipur.

The 16-year-old accused, who works for a property dealer, has been apprehended.

The victim lives with her family in rented accommodation in Narela B-block. Her parents work at a footwear manufacturing factory. She was alone when the accused came to her house.

The boy also physically assaulted the girl when she resisted. He threatened her with dire consequences if she reported the incident to anyone. When the victim's parents returned home, they found her unconscious.

A rape case was registered after the victim's medical examination was conducted at the Satyawadi Raja Harish Chandra Hospital in Delhi.

In a separate incident, a 47-year-old woman alleged that she was raped by an elderly NRI businessman on the pretext of marriage. The incident was reported from Timarpur. The 67-year-old accused was arrested after the woman's medical examination confirmed sexual assault.

The victim belongs to Nepal and stays at Govindpuri. She reportedly separated from her husband last year.

She claims to have contacted the accused, Raj Dingra, after noticing a matrimonial advertisement in a newspaper two months ago.

"The advertisement mentioned that an NRI was seeking to marry a woman in India," a police officer said. The victim contacted Raj on the mobile phone number provided in the advertisement.

They decided to meet at Nehru Place on Monday. After their meeting, Dhingra allegedly took the woman to a guesthouse at Majnu Ka Tilla.

Raj had physical relations with the woman on pretext of marriage, but he simply refused afterwards.

The woman immediately informed the police and Raj was arrested.

A rape case was lodged on basis of the woman's statement at the Timarpur police station.

New Delhi, April 2
A 34-year-old Deputy Superintendent of Police of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) allegedly committed suicide in his residence in CBI colony in Vasant Vihar this afternoon.

The man is named Karan Arya. "He had been depressed and taking medication for the past one year," said a police officer.

Arya's wife informed the police about the incident at about 4 pm. When she returned home from her office, she saw him hanging from a ceiling fan.

Arya was rushed to a nearby government hospital, where he was declared dead. Investigators have not found a suicide note.