In a written communication to Delhi chief secretary, Water Minister Atishi on Thursday said the city has been plunged into a ‘living hell’ by a manufactured financial crisis at the Delhi Jal Board.

The minister has said that it is now the CS’s personal responsibility to resolve the crisis.

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Atishi has directed the top official to ensure adequate deployment of manpower and machinery in every part of the city to ensure that there are no sewer overflows, also to make sure release of funds to the DJB from the budget that has been allocated to them within the next 48 hours.

She further directed the CS to take the strongest possible action against all officers responsible for creating this artificial fund crisis.

The minister has slammed the CS over the alarming state of sewer overflows in the national capital, and has expressed displeasure at the shocking state of the sewerage system, stating that on Wednesday she had visited Mohan Garden D Block, A-Extension Mohan Garden and DK Road in Uttam Nagar after getting repeated complaints from residents regarding the issues.

“I have been informed that on numerous occasions local residents and the area MLA, Naresh Balyan, had sent these grievances to the Delhi Jal Board (DJB). These grievances also reached me via emails and social media,” Atishi said.

“When I reached there, the state of sewer overflow was absolutely shocking. These localities have been turned into a living hell. This kind of sewage overflow is a breeding ground for several diseases and can cause a serious public health crisis,” she added.

She has further said,“When I spoke to the residents of the area, they informed me that they have lived in this locality for years but have never seen this kind of a sewerage crisis.”

According to the minister, the locals told her that when they give their complaints to the DJB field staff, the staff says they lack proper machinery and sewer maintenance staff.

Further the local residents told her that they were informed by DJB staff that they were not able to replace the sewer lines due to budget constraints.

Atishi has said that the local MLA Naresh Balyan informed her that till last year 73 contractual manpower were deployed for maintenance of sewer and water pipelines.

However, this year it has been reduced to merely 18 people.

Last year, 14 sewer cleaning machines were deployed in the entire Uttam Nagar constituency which have now been reduced to just 7 machines, she added.

She has shared that files keep shuttling between DJB, Urban Development Department and Finance Department, but the DJB remains starved of funds, this is the reason why the DJB is in a crisis.