The Delhi Jal Board’s project was launched 8 years back and with that came a lot of us hope among the Delhites as they promised 24*7 water supply in all houses of Delhi such as in Malviya Nagar and Vasant Vihar. After so much chaos and yet so many promises, The Delhi Jal Board failed to complete their project and till now, after 8 years, they have delivered 24*7 water supply to only 5% of the house in these 2 areas.
This project was enthusiastically started by the Delhi Jal Board in partnership with private companies in January 2013. The deadline for completing this project was December 2014, officials said. An estimate reveals that there are around 50,000 households in Malviya Nagar and approximately 8,000 in Vasant Vihar.
For their pilot project, the DJB had replaced pipelines which were 30-35 years old. Approximately 60 percent of the network in Malviya Nagar and 80 per cent in Vasant Vihar had to be changed as it had become extremely old. Most of the leakages were found in the house-service connections. These pipes work properly from around eight to fifteen years.
The pilot was a success as it brought down non-revenue water (NRW) from 62 per cent initially to eventually coming down to 10 percent and water consumption from around 600 litres per capita per day (LPCD) to around 220 LPCD in Shanti Niketan and Anand Niketan in Vasant Vihar. But per person consumption still remains high (323 LPCD) in the areas such as Westend Colony where consumers have huge houses and large gardens to maintain.
In some cases, per person consumption is extremely high which is almost 1,400-1,500 litres per day, as noted by officials. In Delhi, it is known that on an average, a person needs 240 litres of water per day. NRW actually explains about the water lost due to leakages or theft before it reaches the consumer.
If taken as an average, a household in Delhi gets almost four hours of water supply each day. The DJB supplies approximately 935 million gallons of water per day (MGD) but the demand for the same is around 1,140 MGD.
The DJB has planned to discharge treated effluent of high quality at Palla and lift it at Wazirabad for treatments that are further conducted. This project is actually the first one of its kind in India, this would then give an additional 95 MGD of water by December 2024. The capital would be getting an additional 50 MGD of water from Himachal Pradesh by December 2022.
“The ongoing water augmentation projects will culminate in phases over the next three years. The infrastructure for 24×7 water supply will also be ready by that time,” an official explained.
“The projects have been expedited under the Arvind Kejriwal government. Not much had been done earlier on this front,” he added.
Experts are ensuring 24×7 water supply, a leakage-proof pipeline network, constant water pressure, and metered connections which are considered a must to prevent leakages and theft.
