Delhi Jal Board tankers
– Photo : Amar Ujala
Expansion
Congress interim Delhi chief Devendra Yadav on Tuesday alleged that at least 100 of the 250 water tankers of the Delhi Jal Board have gone missing from the roster amid acute water shortage in the national capital. He claimed that the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) always had 250 departmental tankers during summers. Yadav alleged and wondered why 100 tankers had gone missing this summer.
He said, it is also surprising that the Delhi Jal Board did not increase the number of tankers to deal with the water shortage, as the Aam Aadmi Party came to power 10 years ago on the promise of providing free electricity and water to Delhiites. Yadav claimed that in 2022, the Delhi Jal Board had 407 tankers on contract, 541 on rent and 250 tankers of the department to serve 10,141 water-scarce locations in Delhi.
The Delhi government wakes up to the water shortage at the last minute as the Delhi Jal Board does not prepare any summer action plan in advance to address the water shortage. He alleged that when the water shortage goes out of control, the AAP and the BJP engage in blame game and accuse each other of collusion and laxity in dealing with the shortage.
The national capital has been facing severe water shortage for several weeks, with little or no supply amid scorching heat. The city’s AAP government has accused Haryana of not releasing its share of water. Yadav said the Delhi government should have written to the Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh governments to release enough water to meet the city’s peak summer demand.
He alleged that the AAP government has once again failed to do so. A bench of the Supreme Court had directed the Upper Yamuna River Board to hold a meeting on June 14 and take a decision on the issue of providing water to Delhi as soon as possible. Yadav said that the meeting was held, but even after four days, there is still a shortage of water.