Govt prepares ‘Water Master Plan’, to rope in pvt players for upgrade

New Delhi: The Delhi government is preparing a comprehensive Water Master Plan, with a provision to rope in private players, to relieve the city residents of their woes, Water Minister Parvesh Sahib Singh said on Saturday. Under the plan, a study of the existing infrastructure and the future expansion will be undertaken, keeping in mind the city’s increasing population.

“There is a need for a holistic approach towards fixing the water sector challenges that we face, so for the first time a Water Master Plan will be presented. For this we have hired a consultant company which is studying all the major aspects including sources of water, requirements in future, water pipelines maintenance and other things,” Singh said.

Another aspect of the plan would be decentralisation and privatisation of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) distribution network.

“Within the next one year we will float tenders inviting big private players for management of each of DJB’s existing eight Command Centres. In future these companies will be given each of the zones and they will be responsible for managing all the major operations in those areas,” the minister said, according to a statement.

Under the plan, each of the companies will be tasked with the job of repairing and replacing old water pipes, billing and revenue collection, and regular water supply. Tenders will be floated soon for East, North-East, West and South-West zones.