The Indian Express 09.01.2014
Delhi Jal Board task force takes on water mafia, illegal tubewells
In what is being seen as the first such effort to root out water
mafia, the Delhi Jal Board’s (DJB) special taskforce carried out a
massive operation in Sangam Vihar and Deoli village in South Delhi.
It is the task force’s second recommendation in a week.
The first recommendation was made on Monday — to transfer 800 of its staff.
According to the DJB, the task force had received inputs
regarding “many illegally dug tubewells on public land in the Sangam
Vihar and Deoli village areas”, allegedly supplying water to the
neighbourhood “at an exorbitant price of Rs 700 per family per month”.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who was on Sunday informed of the
situation by DJB CEO Vijay Kumar, and the task force members, “gave an
on-the-spot approval for the takeover of such illegal borewells involved
in the extraction of ground water for their commercial interests”.
DJB officials got in touch with the Deputy Commissioner (Revenue)
of the South District, and decided “to carry-out a massive combing
operation with the assistance of the police authorities, where a large
police force was also deployed to manage the situation”.
A DJB spokesperson said, “Joint team consisting of officers from
DJB, DC’s office and the police force cracked took over the illegally
installed borewells. The electrical connections of private operators
have been removed and DJB has obtained new connections from BSES to
operate these tubewells. The operation in this area is likely to last
two days.”
A complaint has been lodged under the relevant provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
“To provide security to the new installations, the RWA/residents
who are direct beneficiaries, have been asked to keep a vigil at these
locations to thwart attempts to damage government property. DJB has
temporarily posted security guards at these installations to secure
them,” a Delhi Jal Board statement said.
The DJB task force was formed last week under Additional CEO of Delhi
Jal Board, Nandini Paliwal, together with four superintending
engineers, one executive engineer and one deputy director (enforcement)
as members.
The force was mandated to find out the discrepancies being caused in DJB’s water distribution services by the water mafia.
