After facing criticism over shortage of water during the peak summer last year, Delhi Jal Board has taken a number of steps to streamline the distribution network to avoid similar situation in the coming months.
To make the water distribution system efficient and to ensure better quality water to the consumers, about 200 kms of old pipelines have been replaced and 333 major leakages were repaired in the last few months.
Senior DJB officials said the agency has already made available piped water supply to 800 unauthorised colonies and efforts are on to cover 126 more such settlements by end of the year. The city has around 1,600 unauthorised colonies.
The Delhi Jal Board had come under severe attack following water crisis across the city in July and August last year.
"We have significantly expanded the water distribution network to meet the demands during peak summer months," said a top DJB official.
Preventive maintenance works like flushing of water mains, cleaning of under ground reservoirs and servicing of equipments at the pump houses have been carried out to ensure uninterrupted functioning of water distribution network during the summer months, he said.
Four hundred new water tankers with stainless steel containers have been introduced. These tankers are fitted with GPS tracking devices.
"An efficient mechanism developed by Delhi Integrated Multi-Model Transport System has been introduced to monitor the movement of these tankers to ensure timely delivery of water at the consumers' end," said the official.
The current average demand of potable water in Delhi is around 1,100 mgd (million gallons per day) and currently Delhi Jal Board supplies around 835 mgd water across the city after treating raw water in its treatment plants.
The demand is projected to touch around 1,400 mgd by end of the 12th Five-Year Plan in 2017. Delhi relies heavily on neighbouring states such as Haryana and Uttar Pradesh for the supply of raw water.
