Ensure water is not wasted, Atishi tells ADMs, SDMs

New Delhi, June 12

Delhi Water Minister on Wednesday has tasked Additional District Magistrates (ADMs) and Sub Divisional Magistrates (SDMs) with ensuring efficient water management amid crisis across the city.

Additionally, in a note to the concerned officers, she said a team of tehsildars and other officials will form a ‘Quick Response Team’ to arrange water tankers and address water-related complaints promptly.

Delhi Water Minister Atishi has directed the Chief Secretary to deploy special ADM-SDM teams to oversee the main water distribution network, from the primary water source to treatment plants and on to the primary Underground Reservoir (UGR), to ensure no water is wasted due to leakage.

Minister Atishi further instructed, “These teams shall inspect the major pipelines to ensure that there is no leakage in any pipeline and if there is any leakage, it must be repaired within 12 hours.”

“A daily report of all the inspections made in this regard by every QRT to be submitted by 5 pm every day,” the letter read.

Meanwhile, Atishi accused senior officials of deliberately reducing the number of water tankers in the city. “I repeatedly directed the CEO of the DJB to increase the number of tankers. But no cognisance was taken by the Jal Board CEO,” she stated.

“In June 2023, 1,323 tankers were deployed by DJB, which were reduced to 888 in January 2024 without the approval of the Water Minister,” she noted.

“In such a situation, the reduction in the number of Jal Board tankers has given an opportunity to the tanker mafia to expand,” she added.