Sheila starts process to privatise Jal Board
4 July 2012 1:53 AM GMT
Privatisation of distribution of water in the thirsty city of Delhi is on the anvil. An indication to this effect was given by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Tuesday. She said that the Delhi government, as the first step in this direction, has decided to privatise water treatment plants in the city. Four multinational firms have been shortlisted for the purpose.
Talking to reporters, Dikshit said, 'Eventually we will distribute water through private hands, which is definitely necessary in Delhi. What courted success when we privatised power distribution. We would replicate the same model in the Delhi Jal Board.' The sources said that the Planning Commission has also given approval to the proposal in principle.
However, critics lamented, with this move will make water in the national capital costlier. 'It will add to the woes of Delhites who are already burdened with a steep hike in power tariffs,' said the senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Harshvardhan.
Opposing the move, the leader of the opposition in the Delhi assembly V K Malhotra said, 'This step will benefit private companies only. Already the price of water has been increased four to five times in the city. The privatisation of power is not successful, and it will also fail.'
In a meeting of water officials last November, which was chaired by Dikshit, the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) had decided to involve the private sector in water distribution, management and maintenance of DJB's infrastructure in Malviya Nagar, Vasant Vihar and Nangloi areas in public-private partnership mode on a pilot basis.
The city has been grappling with severe water shortage mainly due to huge gap in demand and supply caused by the leakage in DJB's water distribution network. The current average demand of potable water in the city is around 1,100 million gallons per day (MGD) and the DJB supplies around 800 MGD water across the city after treating raw water in its plants.
Talking to reporters, Dikshit said, 'Eventually we will distribute water through private hands, which is definitely necessary in Delhi. What courted success when we privatised power distribution. We would replicate the same model in the Delhi Jal Board.' The sources said that the Planning Commission has also given approval to the proposal in principle.
However, critics lamented, with this move will make water in the national capital costlier. 'It will add to the woes of Delhites who are already burdened with a steep hike in power tariffs,' said the senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Harshvardhan.
Opposing the move, the leader of the opposition in the Delhi assembly V K Malhotra said, 'This step will benefit private companies only. Already the price of water has been increased four to five times in the city. The privatisation of power is not successful, and it will also fail.'
In a meeting of water officials last November, which was chaired by Dikshit, the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) had decided to involve the private sector in water distribution, management and maintenance of DJB's infrastructure in Malviya Nagar, Vasant Vihar and Nangloi areas in public-private partnership mode on a pilot basis.
The city has been grappling with severe water shortage mainly due to huge gap in demand and supply caused by the leakage in DJB's water distribution network. The current average demand of potable water in the city is around 1,100 million gallons per day (MGD) and the DJB supplies around 800 MGD water across the city after treating raw water in its plants.
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