Atishi calls for DJB CEO's suspension after death in fight over water crisis

Delhi Water Minister Atishi has written to Lieutenant Governor V. K. Saxena asking him to immediately suspend the CEO, Delhi Jal Board (DJB), and take stringent and exemplary action against all concerned officers after a woman lost her life in a violent fight that started due to shortage of water supply in east Delhi.

She claimed that the onset of summer has barely started and many parts of Delhi are already facing water shortages, despite repeated directions to the Chief Secretary and DJB.

“For more than a year, the Chief Minister had given clear directions and a road map for improving water supply in Delhi. For the last 6 months, the undersigned gave repeated directions to the CEO of Delhi Jal Board and the Chief Secretary to ensure augmentation of water supply, so that there is no shortage of water when the onset of summer happens. However, despite repeated directions, no action has been taken to prevent this water crisis in Delhi,” she said in the letter.

She further alleged that in the last few weeks, many reminders were given to the CEO, DJB, and Chief Secretary to ensure that water supply must be augmented through tube wells and water tankers.

“Grievances regarding water shortage have regularly been sent to the Chief Secretary on WhatsApp. As recently as April 3 directions for ensuring adequate water supply in the summers were given to Chief Secretary and I asked for an action-taken-report on the steps being taken by DJB. However, on April 4, the CEO of DJB had the audacity to send me a note stating that I would not be given any information regarding the water supply situation in Delhi because the Model Code of Conduct is in force,” she claimed.

She said that it is a consequence of this callous inaction of the officers of Delhi Jal Board that today a woman has lost her life in violence due to water shortage.

“This inaction is tantamount to criminal negligence and cannot be ignored; immediate and exemplary action must be taken against the highest level of officers of DJB,” she said.

Delhi Police on Sunday said that they have apprehended a 15-year-old girl for stabbing a neighbour to death after a quarrel over filling water from the common tap of the first floor of the house in Delhi’s Farsh Bazar area.

The deceased was identified as Soni, a resident of Bhikam Singh Colony in the Farsh Bazar area, and the incident occurred on Friday.