CBI should question Chief Minister who heads Delhi Jal Board: Goel

The Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party President Shri Vijay Goel today said that Delhi’ites are going to be forced to pay higher water tariffs due to massive scams in Delhi Jal Board.  He said that new  “scam” is taking place in DJB as tender has been floated last month for installation of 4 lakh more water metres and the tender conditions are tailor made to suit certain players.

The CBI should look into this scam in making and it should immediately question Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit who heads the Delhi Jal Board for this new tender as well as the previous scams which are now under CBI’s scanner.

Addressing a press conference, Shri Goel said, “We have also come to know that a new tender has been floated in the month of October 2013 for installation of another 4 lakh metres and again the terms and conditions of tender are tailor made to suit two particular companies which were awarded the earlier tender also.

A massive scam has already taken place with 4 lakh water metres being installed earlier this year at the rate of Rs. 6500 per metre while the actual cost is Rs. 3500 per metre. The terms and conditions of this tender was tailor made to benefit two particular companies.”

The additional burden due to superficially escalated costs will ultimately be passed on to the consumers in the form of higher water tariff. The CBI has also registered a preliminary enquiry in this case. We have been saying for long that scam is brewing up in the Delhi Jal Board in connivance with the Congress government. Now, with the CBI inquiries in four cases our stand is vindicated. All the related details of the water supply projects for Nagloi, Malviya Nagar and Mehrauli should be made public immediately.”

Shri Goel said, “It is clear that the DJB tailor made the conditions in the tender to suit particular companies. It is a very serious matter. The Chief Minister as head of Delhi Jal Board is directly responsible for the scam. Several representations by several people and organizations were made to the CM and the Delhi Jal Board CEO but they did not act on them. These complaints were brushed under the carpet and more than Rs. 900 crore were squandered away in four projects which are now under CBI scanner.”

Shri Goel further said, “The metres installed at such high cost are faulty. They over bill the consumers as even when air passes through taps from the water pipelines, these metres start running adding to the water bills. That is one of the reasons leading to whooping water bills in lakhs of rupees.”

Shri Goel said, “The Delhi BJP demands a complete probe into the latest tendering process for installing these metres. We also demand that all test reports of Fluid Control Research Institute (FCRI), Palkkad, Kerala regarding these metres should be made public.

Shri Goel said, “This is a clear case of cartelization. It cannot happen without political patronage and connivance of senior officials.”

The affairs of the Delhi Jal Board have been murkier under the Congress regime. The CAG said that one in every four persons in Delhi gets just 3.82 liters of water a day against the prescribed 172 liters a day and a minimum of 40 liters as recommended by the World Health Organization.

More than 1000 percent increase in water tariff has been effected over the last 15 years. Despite so many hikes in water tariff, the quality of water supplied to homes in Delhi has worsened. More than 80 percent of the water samples of the Delhi Jal Board failed test in 2012.

The CAG report mentions about the irregularities in the affairs and working of the Delhi Jal Board. The CAG found that the state exchequer suffered a loss of Rs. 3950 crore in three years due to poor functioning of the DJB. Moreover, water supply of the Delhi Jal Board is not available to half of Delhi.

Over Rs. 550 crore has been spent by the Delhi government to build Munak Canal but not even a drop of water has reached Delhi from this canal! The water treatment plants in Delhi are completely mismanaged and working to the extent of only 40-50 % of their designed capacity.  This speaks volumes about the total failure of the DJB. The latest findings by the CBI only strengthens BJP’s doubt that the Delhi Jal Board has turned into a platform for vested interests in the Congress government presided over by the Chief Minister herself.