Water supply boost: 249 new tube wells, over 1K tankers, biometric attendance for DJB staff
New Delhi: Water minister Parvesh Verma on Wednesday announced mandatory biometric attendance for Delhi Jal Board (DJB) employees, the installation of 249 new tube wells, and an increase of 1,327 water tankers to improve supply.
Speaking in the Delhi Assembly session, Verma said a command centre has been established to monitor water distribution, which will be inaugurated by Chief Minister Rekha Gupta in a few days.
He said that Delhi requires 1,200 million gallons per day (MGD) but currently receives only 990 MGD.
“To address this gap, the government will install 249 new tube wells over the next three months — 96 will be operational by May, 88 in June, and 55 in July.”
“At present, 901 water tankers are in operation, and this number will be increased to 1,327. However, tankers are only a temporary solution, we need to address the root causes of water shortages,” Verma said.
The minister said 32 new super sucker machines will be deployed soon to clean sewers, with tenders for 30 more approved to ensure each constituency has one. Within the next four months, all gutters and sewers will be desilted, and sensors will be installed in water tankers to monitor levels accurately, he said.
“All sectors will be integrated with the IT cell for better monitoring,” Verma added. A water infrastructure project in Sangam Vihar, built at a cost of Rs 4 crore under the previous government, remains unused due to multiple leaks, he said.
“Officials have informed me that an additional Rs 5 crore would be required for its repairs and many of Delhi’s pipelines are over 80 years old and require urgent replacement,” he said.
Verma said that to improve accountability, fingerprint scanners will be installed in all DJB offices for attendance tracking.
In addition, 180 junior engineers will be recruited for maintenance and project work, while the number of labourers in each constituency will be doubled from 10 to 20 to enhance efficiency, the minister said.
