DJB officials are honest, they have done commendable work in water sector: CM

New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal addressed DJB officials and servicemen at IGI Stadium on Monday. He listed down few aims of AAP which is to provide clean and 24-hour water supply to all, laying down sewer pipelines in every area and cleaning up river Yamuna in the next five years.

The Chief Minister said, "When our government was formed five years back, only 58 per cent of Delhi received tap water directly from the pipelines and the rest of Delhi received water from the tankers. I am proud that today, 93 per cent of Delhi receives water from the pipelines. The rest 7 per cent of Delhi will start receiving tap water within the next one and a half years."

"If we could provide water additionally to 35 per cent of Delhi, it means that development is possible, but the officials were not given a chance to work before we came to power. Out of 1,797 unauthorized colonies in Delhi, water pipelines have been laid in 1,554 colonies, and sewer pipelines have been laid in around 1,200 colonies. The pipelines installation in the rest of the colonies will be done within the next one or two years," added the CM.

Kejriwal said, "The opposition played politics on the issue of water, they claimed that the water samples they took from various places in Delhi were contaminated. They stopped their dirty politics in two days since they could not substantiate their claims. When our government was formed, 2,300 areas in Delhi received contaminated water, which has now gone down to 125 areas. We aim to provide safe and clean tap water to the whole of Delhi in the next five years. In a recent town hall interaction with the people, I was asked to drink water from a nearby tap. I did it and here I am, standing healthy in front of you. When our government was formed, only 45-50 per cent of Delhi was connected to the sewer pipelines. 80 per cent of Delhi today is connected to sewer pipelines facility and we have to work on connecting the rest 20 per cent of Delhi to sewer facility in the next one to two years. We aim to clean up the river Yamuna. It should be so clean that before the next elections, I along with the DJB officials and the rest of the people of Delhi should be able to take a dip in the river."