Chief Minister responsible for water borne diseases

Chief Minister should not try to privatise water supply on the pretext of the failure of Delhi Jal Board

            New Delhi, 4th October.  Holding the Delhi Government fully responsible for the water borne diseases resulting in deaths of the people after drinking polluted water full of becteria supplied by the Delhi Jal Board, BJP Delhi Pradesh President Shri Vijender Gupta has demanded the Lt. Governor Shri Tejender Khanna that he should get the polluted water supplied in Delhi tested by an authentic international water testing agency so that the people may be saved from untimely death and the process of privatization of water started by Chief Minister may be stopped in the public interest.

           

50% population of Delhi is supplied water from the treatment plants after the treatment of water and 25% people get water supply from the tube wells.  Rest of the people get water from hand pumps, tankers of DJB and private suppliers.  He said that the Public Health Department of MCD notifies about the cases of cholera in the capital and presents status report every week.  The MCD and DJB jointly test the clarification of water and its report is submitted every week.  Under this process of testing the MCD also provide information about leakage in the pipelines to the DJB.  Yet Delhi Government has not taken any effective steps to change the pipe lines to prevent water pollution.  Due to this the people are suffering with these ailments.

            He further told that this is being done under a conspiracy.  If the DJB and Government had good intentions then these defects could be removed.  The pipelines could be replaced and the treatment plants repaired easily.  What is required is positive intention of Delhi Government to solve this problem honestly.  He also told that before the privatization of power, the Government had started the process of privatization on the pretext of the problems in power supply and in 2002, three power companies assigned the work of power distribution.  The result is before us.  Power has become costly and the benefit that should have gone to the people could not be provided to them and the power tariff is being increased again and again.  On the same pattern Delhi Government wants that the water supply may also be privatized so that it may escape its responsibility and the private companies may be awarded this work of water supply for their own benefit. Although the people may suffer the same way as in the case of privatization of power if the water supply is given in the hands of private companies.

            Shri Gupta has demanded the Lt. Governor that he should order for inspection of the entire water supply system in Delhi by and authentic agency and make arrangements for laying new pipelines at the cost of Central and Delhi Government so that 1.5 crore people of Delhi may get clean drinking water and should intervene immediately to stop the privatization of Delhi Jal Board in the interest of common man of Delhi.