Leader of the Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta said on Thursday that he has written to the Chief Vigilance Commissioner demanding an investigation into the alleged financial irregularities in the Delhi Jal Board (DJB).

In his letter to the CVC, the BJP leader accused the Delhi government of deliberate financial mismanagement in the city’s water board. He alleged that the intentions of the government are dubious. They have not prepared a balance sheet of the DJB since 2018 to hide the corruption.

He said following the intervention of the high court, the government prepared balance sheets for the first three years, but the balance sheets for 2021-22 and 2022-23 were deliberately left out.

Gupta said due to this, the DJB’s expenses have not yet been audited by the CAG (Comptroller and Auditor General), which indicate a deep conspiracy to hide financial irregularities and corruption, he alleged.

The Leader of the Opposition further mentioned in his communication that on March 15 this year, the chief secretary of Delhi had submitted a detailed report to the Water Minister regarding DJB’s debt of Rs 73,000 crore.

He added that this report contained numerous reasons and details about alleged financial irregularities; however, to cover up these misdeeds, the minister allegedly stashed the report and did not present the same in the Assembly.

Gupta further claimed that the minister was aware that if the report was presented in the Assembly, copies would have to be given to opposition members, leading to the exposure of their financial misconduct.

The BJP leader also claimed that the report states the DJB was allocated Rs. 28,500 crore from 2015 until now for various projects, but there is no record of where this money was spent, Gupta added.

“Without a balance sheet or audit, these expenditures cannot be traced, which seems to be the government’s intention as well, hence the delay in preparing the balance sheet,” he claimed.

Gupta further alleged that funds allocated in the budget for DJB are not fully utilized, and claimed that in 2021-22, Rs. 210 crore remained unspent, and in the 2022-23 budget, Rs. 3,035 crore could not be utilized by the water agency.

The BJP MLA has also claimed that Delhi Ministers took the power of approving all projects of the board in their hands, which has caused delays in completing small projects as officials are forced to wait for approval from the minister’s office.