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Battle of words erupts between Delhi L-G and Kejriwal govt over water shortage hiss

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The Delhi water minister had a number of days ago written to the L-G, asking him to droop the CEO of Delhi Jal Board (DJB) after a girl became as soon as killed following a quarrel with her neighbour over fetching water from a frequent tap within the Farsh Bazar residence of northeast Delhi.

Delhi Lt Governor V K Saxena has written an originate letter to jailed Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, claiming the loss of life of a girl in a fight over fetching water reflects the authorities’s failure and Water Minister Atishi weak the incident for “slim political targets”.

Atishi hit lend a hand at Saxena over the originate letter, keeping him accountable for the stoppage of Delhi Jal Board (DJB) works.

The Delhi water minister had a number of days ago written to the L-G, asking him to droop the CEO of Delhi Jal Board (DJB) after a girl became as soon as killed following a quarrel with her neighbour over fetching water from a frequent tap within the Farsh Bazar residence of northeast Delhi.

In the show off, Atishi beneficial Saxena to “institute an fair enquiry into the acts of omission and commission of the executive secretary, along with officers of the finance department, urban vogue department and DJB”.

Take into legend: No respite for jailed Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal

Days after the dialog, Saxena penned a strongly worded originate letter to Kejriwal, currently lodged in Tihar jail after his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case linked to the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy rip-off case.

“I became as soon as deeply distressed on the insensitive dialog from the Minister for Water… Atishi on Sunday. Whereas I became as soon as but to receive the letter, it characteristically stumbled on its system on varied social and mainstream media platforms, the moment it became as soon as signed. She has chosen to exercise the unhappy loss of life of a girl in East Delhi for slim and partisan political targets,” he charged.

Having underlined the inadequate present of water as the motive on the lend a hand of the incident, Atishi has paradoxically indicted her own authorities of extra than nine years, the L-G acknowledged.

“Her show off indeed is a prima facie act of contrition, inaction and inefficiency over the final almost 10 years,” he acknowledged within the letter.

Declaring that this “unhappy incident (woman’s loss of life) is not any longer the appropriate such case of its kind within the context of Delhi”, he acknowledged many such incidents over water shortage have occurred within the past basically because of the the failure of the authorities.

“Such cases have turn out to be a recurrent phenomenon three hundred and sixty five days after three hundred and sixty five days and had been widely reported in media over the final 10 years. I’m enclosing a snapshot of some news clippings, starting 2017 for illustration. Water woes within the capital, especially in settlements the put the unhappy live, have exacerbated over the final decade.

“Your minister’s fleet missive to me is an admission of these failures and defaults of performance of your authorities and quantity to facile attempts at shrugging accountability off, a elaborate procedure back,” he added.

Saxena cited legit figures to specialise in his facets. He cited The Economic Look 2023-24, tabled within the most up-to-date Finances Session of the Delhi Assembly.

“Over the past decade, water treatment ability grew marginally from 906 MGD to 946 MGD, barely a 4.4 per cent have larger. At some stage within the the same duration, the population of the metropolis has grown tremendously by 15 per cent.”

“The general shortfall in water present quantities to about 290 MGD. Of the general water being supplied, 120 MGD comes from groundwater extraction, which is additionally a erroneous exaggeration. I’m decided that you’re mindful that of the 16 Ranney wells, 5 are non-purposeful. Equally, a huge substitute of tubewells are additionally dysfunctional,” he added.

The proportion of “unaccounted for water” — a sum of water leakages by system of transmission and distribution losses, water theft and non-payment of dues — saw a pointy have larger from forty five per cent in 2015 to 58 per cent in 2022-2023, the L-G acknowledged.

“By implication, in 2015, of the 906 MGD of water treated, absolute most practical 498 MGD became as soon as accounted for. In 2022-23, of the 946 MGD treated, barely 397 MGD is accounted for. Accordingly, over the final decade, acquire water availability has reduced by extra than 100 MGD because of the the criminal neglect by your Authorities,” Saxena added.

He acknowledged that of the about 2.5 crore folk within the metropolis, extra than two crore are deprived of ingesting water present in varied degrees, especially in unauthorized colonies, slum clusters and to a lesser extent, even in organized developed colonies.

“It merely facets to the indisputable truth that there became as soon as no effort in anyway in some unspecified time in the future of the final ten years for plugging the leaks and we appear to be spending hundreds of crores in pumping water trusty into a leaking bucket,” the L-G acknowledged.

Hitting lend a hand at Saxena, Atishi held him accountable for stopping DJB’s works The L-G encouraged the officers who obstructed work and didn’t rob any circulation towards them despite repeated requests, the Delhi water minister alleged.

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