DJB V-C Somnath Bharti meets Bijwasan MLA over sewerage, water supply issues

New Delhi: In an effort to address issues related to sewerage, water supply, and billings, Delhi Jal Board Vice Chairman Somnath Bharti held a crucial meeting with Bijwasan Assembly constituency MLA BS Joon.

The meeting, conducted under the “Meet With MLA” campaign initiated by DJB Vice Chairman, witnessed the participation of senior Delhi Jal Board officials.

Bharti emphasised the ambitious goal set by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to clean the Yamuna by 2025 and reaffirmed DJB’s commitment to this mission. In pursuit of this, Delhi Jal Board is actively connecting every colony and village in the capital to the sewer network and expeditiously replacing old sewer lines. Bharti specifically reviewed the Bijwasan assembly constituency’s sewer line project and urged officials to accelerate progress. This project aims to lay new sewer lines in six unauthorized colonies and the Bijwasan village, covering approximately 23 km.

While 8 km of sewer lines have been laid, the remaining 15 km must be completed by March 2024. This expansion of the sewer network will significantly reduce wastewater discharge into the Yamuna, contributing to the Yamuna’s cleanliness goal. The issue of contaminated water supply in Rajnagar, part of the Bijwasan assembly constituency, was also a topic of discussion. It was discovered that sewer overflow had contaminated the drinking water supply in this area.

To mitigate this problem, DJB is working on desilting sewer lines to prevent jams and overflows. Bharti directed officials to separate sewer and water supply pipelines, reducing the risk of water contamination.

During the meeting, the concerns of numerous hotels, restaurants, and institutions in Mahipalpur misusing domestic water connections for commercial purposes were raised. Bharti deemed this a serious issue resulting in revenue loss for DJB. As a solution, he instructed officials to launch a special drive against illegal commercial water connections, identify and regularise them, and expedite the recovery of outstanding bills.