Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today said his government has decided to provide piped water to every household in the national capital within five years.
Kejriwal, who today inaugurated a 50-MGD water treatment plant of Delhi Jal Board in Dwarka Sector 16C, said he would approach Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking funds to ensure supply of piped water to every household in the capital.
"There is still a major part of Delhi where people don't get water through pipeline and they have to depend only on water tankers. We have set a target of providing water to every household through pipeline in five years. DJB officials will prepare a blueprint of this project," Kejriwal said at the inauguration, his first since taking over as Delhi CM.
Kejriwal, who was accompanied by Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, said after the blueprint is prepared, he would meet the Prime Minister to resolve the problem of fund crunch so that every household in Delhi gets water through pipeline.
The CM said his government is also working on rainwater harvesting system to be implemented in Yamuna and other areas so that there is no water shortage in the national capital and "we don't have depend on neighbouring states".
"The population of Delhi is increasing and there will be shortage of water in coming years. Now, Delhi gets water from Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and other nearby states, but after some time, these states would say they cannot supply more water, so we will have to arrange water for us on our own," he said.
"There is a lot of rains in Delhi, but rainwater flows into sewers that's why there is a flood like situation in Yamuna some time. If we store rainwater, we can be able to resolve water problem till a limit in Delhi. I request DJB officials to prepare a blueprint so that we don't have to take water from neighbouring states," he said.
Kejriwal, who recently wrote to his Haryana counterpart M L Khattar on the issue of water from Munak Canal, said that he along with West Delhi MP Pravesh Verma, will soon meet Khattar, requesting him to release Delhi's share of water.
About 13.4 lakh residents are expected to benefit after full commissioning of the Dwarka plant. People living in the sub-city of Dwarka as well as Dabri, Sagarpur Group of Colonies, Jeevan Park, Uttam Nagar Group of Colonies and its adjoining areas and the command areas of Ujwa, Daulatpur and Nafajgarh will benefit from the plant.
