Delhi Lt Governor’s open letter to Arvind Kejriwal over water crisis in city

Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena on Tuesday wrote an open letter to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over the water problems in the city.

Arvind Kejriwal is presently under judicial custody following arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the Delhi liquor policy case. The Lieutenant Governor strongly criticised the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government and highlighted its inaction and inefficiency over the past decade in addressing water scarcity issues.

LG Saxena pointed out that the recent incident involving water scarcity in Delhi was not an isolated case. “Such instances have become a recurrent phenomenon year after year and have been widely reported in the media over the last ten years,” he said, attaching news clippings from 2017 onwards to illustrate the severity of the issue.

He said that the Economic Survey 2023-24, presented during the Budget Session of the Delhi Assembly, revealed alarming statistics. Despite a marginal growth of just 4.4 per cent in water treatment capacity from 906 MGD to 946 MGD over the last decade, the city’s population has surged by 15 per cent. This has resulted in an overall shortfall of about 290 MGD in water supply, VK Saxena said.

Moreover, the percentage of “unaccounted for water,” which includes leakages, theft, and non-payment of dues, has risen sharply from 45 per cent in 2015 to 58 per cent in 2022-2023, the Lieutenant Governor said.

Comparing Delhi’s water management with other cities, LG Saxena highlighted that Chennai, Mumbai, and Pune fare much better than Delhi with rates of 35 per cent, 27 per cent, and 35 per cent respectively.

The LG also criticised the AAP government’s expenditure on water infrastructure, stating that Rs. 28,400 crore has been spent as Capital Expenditure by the Delhi Jal Board in the last nine years. However, the flow meters procured for over Rs 250 crore have failed to effectively reduce water leakages.

Highlighting the disparity in water supply, LG Saxena pointed out that while affluent colonies in the city receive round-the-clock water supply averaging 500 litres per person per day, unauthorised colonies and slums get less than 50 litres per person per day. In some areas, water is supplied for as little as half an hour a day or on alternate days.

Furthermore, seven per cent of households in Delhi, amounting to an average of 20 lakh people, still do not have access to piped water supply. The accumulated loan and interest liability of the Delhi Jal Board has reached a staggering Rs 73,000 crore, said the Lieutenant Governor.

LG Saxena concluded by stating, “It simply points to the fact that there has been no effort whatsoever during the last ten years to plug the leaks, and we seem to be spending thousands of crores in pumping water ‘into a leaking bucket’.”