In his letter addressed to the LG, Yadav has pointed out that “despite significant water wastage, the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) and Delhi Police have not taken any action against the guilty.
Photo: DPCC President ,Devender Yadav along with Former President DPCC, Subhash Chopra,Former Ministet, Harun Yusuf, during a Press Conference at DPCC, in the capital on Monday, Subrata Dutta (SNS)
Delhi Congress president Devender Yadav has written to Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena demanding action against those responsible for the “unprecedented water crisis” in the national capital.
In his letter addressed to the LG, Yadav has pointed out that “despite significant water wastage, the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) and Delhi Police have not taken any action against the guilty, as water theft from the DJB pipes have become a regular feature in many parts of Delhi.”
He claimed that water theft happens due to the collusion of the tanker mafia with “ruling party (AAP) politicians, who aid and abet the water pilferage.”
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In this connection, the Delhi Congress chief brought to the attention of the LG newspaper reports claiming AAP MLA from Deoli Prakash Jarwal taking an alleged bribe of Rs 60 lakh monthly from the water tanker owners.
“About 20 water tanker owners reported to have come forward claiming that Jarwal had asked them for money, and four of them recorded their statements before a Magistrate stating that they had paid him Rs 20,000 each to clear their file and Rs 500 for each round of supply,” he said.
Yadav also mentioned in his letter that he had complained to the Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) for a demand for investigation into “loss of Rs 17,575 crore” to the DJB due to water leakage between 2015-16 and 2022-23.
“It becomes even more noteworthy when considering the substantial investments made by the DJB from its budget toward the replacement and installation of supply lines. With an annual allocation of approximately Rs 30 crore for metering and leakage management, the escalation of this trend becomes even more perplexing. Even if 10-20 per cent leakages are justified due to transmission and distribution loss, approximate loss of Rs 17,575 crore suffered by the DJB,” he write to the CVC.
He urged the LG to issue a stringent directive to the officials and political leaders involved in the “blame game” to collaborate in effectively managing the present water crisis.
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