‘Next Delhi BJP president will be chosen by water mafias’

In his efforts to provide international quality water to each and every household of the national Capital by 2017, Delhi Water Minister Kapil Mishra discusses in an exclusive interview to Utsav Basu and Godhuli Barat the nuances involved in the project, its challenges and the strategy behind the revival of all the 100 waterbodies by next Monsoon. He also elaborates on the role of water mafias determining the next Delhi BJP chief. 

A: The BJP is under a lot of pressure from the water mafias. The selection of the next Delhi BJP president will be chosen by these water mafias. While there is no water mafia rampant in the city as such, the business is prevalent in the BJP itself.

A: The BJP has always something to say. However, DJB is one area where the party has failed to highlight even one weakness. They wanted to bring up the water scarcity issue but they failed. For the first time in the city, the DJB is not selling water meters. Instead, we have made it public through newspapers about the meters that have passed the test. So no black marketeering and undue prioritising of brands are being done. These things have increased the level of BJP’s frustration. Thus, whenever we are bringing in some changes, they are coming out and protesting as their vested interests are not being entertained. While not all BJP leaders are bad, some like Satish Upadhyay and Vijender Gupta are always in a mood to protest.

A: There are two parts in this. Firstly, increasing the total availability of water and secondly, managing the water whatever we have in total, that is, the distribution system. DJB is producing 900 MGD everyday which is the highest ever in Delhi. We have an action plan and the main aim will be monitoring of water and laying down of pipelines. For strengthening the laboratories, mobile units will be put in place to check water leakages. JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) has done a survey and divided the city into 1,000 zones which will enable the government to individually focus on each one. Till now, 10 zones have been focused upon and we are confident of covering all the 1,000 zones by December 2017. It is going to be an ongoing process. This is the action plan and relying on this, I am sure, we will not only provide water but it will be of international quality. 

A: Yes, this is true. But water boring takes place where pipelines are not properly constructed. For eg, Dwarka was well known for tankers as there was no planning by DDA to provide water through pipelines. But now, the Delhi government has started Dwarka and Bawana water treatment plants. The Bawana unit is functioning at a capacity of about 14-15 MGD against the installed capacity of 20 MGD. Depending on the increased availability of raw water, production in this plant is expected to increase as per its installed capacity. In Chattarpur, a few colonies in our network have been added to reduce illegal water boring. Till last year, Chattarpur was getting 0.75 MGD of water but now it gets 4 MGD. All South Delhi areas will be getting proper water and this is what we are working towards. Last year, we covered 238 colonies which was a record and this year we are going to add 300 more colonies to the piped network areas.

A: A waterbody committee has been set up for mapping the areas by the end of this year. We should be able to revive at least 10 waterbodies, which includes rain water harvesting and decentralisation of sewage system, by December this year. We will be ensuring that water channels are opened and waterbodies are conserved. I think by next Monsoon, we should be able to revive all the 100 waterbodies of Delhi.

A: Firstly, it involves laying down the network of pipelines and secondly, improving the quality of water and then the Palla Project for increasing the water level and finally two new sewage treatment plants will be introduced this year. For improved water supply in unauthorised colonies, piped water supply networks are being provided in unauthorised colonies. Out of the 1,639 unauthorised colonies, piped water supply network was extended in 1,105 colonies. Efforts will be made for augmenting water supply from Okhla Water Works to increase availability in the areas under the command of Apollo, ESI and Chattarpur UGRs.

A: Two things happened in DJB — firstly, all those who were corrupt were arrested and secondly we increased our interaction with our employees and officers and the honest were financially rewarded which in turn encouraged the others to work better.

A: Show me one case of corruption that has been levelled against them. The BJP is targeting our MLAs with false cases of molestation and dragging them to court which results in the Delhi Police being lambasted by the courts and a bail for our MLAs. They are not investigating the AAP MLAs but they are in a hurry to arrest them by fabricating cases.

A: The position of the case is very interesting. The ACB chief M K Meena and LG are under pressure from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. These people know that if they touch Sheila Dikshit, they will lose their jobs. The report that has been submitted by me clearly states that Sheila Dikshit is a part of the scam. They are nervous and fearful and are trying to save Dikshit and are going all out to ensure that she remains out of the case by giving her a clean chit.