It also demanded that Delhi Fire Service and Slum and JJ Department be also re-transferred to the local bodies.
In a letter to Lieutenant Governor Tejinder Khanna, North Delhi Mayor Meera Aggarwal said water supply should be transferred back to the newly created three municipal bodies in the Capital in accordance with the 74th Constitutional Amendment which talks about giving more powers to local bodies.
Opposing any move to privatise water services, she said the civic bodies can ensure proper management. "If privatisation had been the remedy, MCD could have done that itself," she said.
Aggarwal said it was on the assumption that MCD could not manage water supply properly, that it was taken over by Delhi Government in 1998.
"Now, the Delhi government itself feels that water supply should be privatised (and) it means that Delhi Government itself is not able to manage the water distribution system properly. Just to conceal their incompetence, the water distribution system is been privatised," she added.
The Mayor's letter came against the backdrop of Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit saying privatisation is necessary in water distribution sector on the lines of power sector. Senior government officials admitted that this could lead to increase in water tariff.
Aggarwal said if water distribution is privatised, then sewerage system would also go into private hands, as both complement each other.