‘Make all tube-wells operational & repair faulty ones within 24 hours’

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal chaired a high-level meeting on Wednesday along with Water minister Saurabh Bharadwaj, Forest minister Gopal Rai, and high-ranking officials of the government to ensure ample water supply for all households in the national Capital.

During the meeting, the CM instructed officials to recharge ground water, increase water availability through tube wells, bring uniformity in the quality of water extracted from lakes, and treat the ammonia present in water coming from Haryana.

The CM emphasised the importance of timely utilisation of available water and preventing its wastage. The CM further directed that all tube wells be made operational and that faulty ones be repaired within 24 hours. Additionally, he called for expeditious construction of new tube wells and sewage treatment plants (STP) to increase water availability.

Officials were also directed to submit a plan within a week to treat the ammonia present in water that comes from Haryana to Delhi. The Chief Secretary has also been directed to coordinate with the DDA to settle any land related issues in this project.

During the review meeting, Kejriwal underlined the importance of increasing the availability of drinking water in the state.

He observed that more water is wasted due to supply chain disruptions than the lack of water itself and pointed out the importance of fixing the supply chain to minimise water wastage. The CM instructed the department to ensure that tube wells are installed within six months of obtaining land. The CM stressed that all tube wells should be in working condition and that all available water should be supplied to the consumers. The CM also emphasised that every tube well should be monitored to ensure that it is running smoothly. He directed the officials to deploy an agency tasked with maintaining tube wells for five years and repairing any breakdowns within 24 hours. The CM made it clear that no tube well should be unutilised and instructed officials to hold engineers accountable if a tube well remains faulty for more than four days. The water extracted from tube wells will be transported to the UGRs from where it would be supplied further.

Furthermore, he directed officials to complete the installation of water flow meters on underground reservoirs to curb wastage of water. Flow meters will also be installed on all the tappings to accurately measure the amount of water being used as per plan. The installation of RO systems and flow meters would also help identify which tube wells are functional and which ones are not.