Delhi Jal Board

Delhi Jal Board (DJB) was constituted on 30 March 1998 to discharge the functions of water supply, sewerage and sewage disposal and drainage within the National Capital Territory of Delhi.

Prior to this Act the above function were interested with earthwhile Delhi Water Supply and Sewage Disposal Undertaking.The Board shall also be bound to supply to the New Delhi Municipal Councel, Delhi Cantonment Board and Military Engineering services, at the place or places at which immediately before the commencement of this Act, the Delhi Water supply & Sewage Disposal Undertaking constituted under the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act,1957.

Mission/Vision

Delhi Jal Board, Constituted under Delhi Water Board Act,1998,is responsible for production and distribution of drinking water in Delhi . The Board is also responsible for collection, treatment and disposal of Waste water/sewage in the capital. Delhi Jal Board has provided about 15.14 lacs water connections up to 01.04.2004. Delhi Jal Board is committed to provide efficient and prompt services to the citizens of Delhi and to the courteous in personal behaviour and professional in conduct.

Vision: Our vision is to be environmentally sensitive provider of a quality, reliable and reasonably priced drinking water and waste water collection and treatment system services. We aim at providing safe drinking water, and efficient sewerage services in an equitable and sustainable manner and to become an accountable service provider. Realization of this vision would promote a virtuous circle in terms of greater supply reliability and service quality, leading to greater customer satisfaction, improved willingness to pay and enhanced cost recovery. It will also include 24/7 water supply and financial sustainability and accountability, improved services to the poor, Customer Orientation and Human Resources Development, Environmental Sustainability and Enhancing Operational Efficiency.

Brief history and background for its establishment

For over 5 decades, Delhi Jal Board has been meeting the needs of potable water for the National Capital Territory of Delhi. The population of Delhi has seen phenomenal growth and has crossed the figure of 140 lacs, apart from the floating population of 4 to 5 lacs. Through systematic planning and implementation, the Board has ensured average availability of 50 gallons filtered water per capita per day for the residents of Delhi, through a network of about 9000 km of water mains/lines. Production of water during 2003-2004 was around 670 MGD, Raw water is obtained from various sources line the river Yamuna, Bhakra Storage, Upper Ganga Canal, and Ground Water.

Allocation of Business

Apart from piped water supply, and collection and treatment of sewage, Delhi Jal Board provides the following services to its customers: • Supply of potable water through tankers on demand

• Supply of packaged water “JAL” in jars through Jal Suvidha Kendras.

• Supply of Biogas and sludge Manure(Limited areas).

• Water meter testings.

• Testing of Water samples.

Grievance Redressal Mechanism

Redressed at various Levels. A. Water/Sewerage complaints can be lodged at Local JE store. B. Zonal level i.e. ZEs/ZROs • New Water connection

• Dis-connection of water connection

• Assessment of development charges.

• Removal discrepancy in water charge bills.

• Mutation of water connection.

• Non-receipt of water charges bills.

• Correction of address.

• Change of category.

• Complaints for defective water meters.

• Jt. Dir/Dy. Dir. level officers are available in the Zone from 10 AM to 1PM for public Grievance Settlement.

C) Distt. Level i.e. EE Ex. Engineer of a particular Distt. Is responsible for Water/Sewerage/Revenue Complaints through a Single window System

D) Jt. Director/SE/DOR

E) Besides above all Senior Officers of DJB hears public/employee grievances form 12.00 Noon to 1.00PM in all working days.

F) Public can lodge its complaints through SMS at 7575 and Toll free Number 155355 and also with the Central Control Room functional for 24 hours.

Corruption Charges

The Delhi Jal Board was found guilty of corruption in an effort to privatize itself when an investigation was conducted by Arvind Kejriwal and the non-governmental organization (NGO) Parivartan in 2005.^[1] After submitting a Right to Information (RTI) request, Parivartan received 9000 pages of correspondence and consultation with the World Bank, where it was revealed that the privatization of Delhi's water supply would provide salaries of $25,000 a month to four administrators of each of the 21 water zones, which amounted to over $25 million per year, increasing the budget by over 60% and water taxes 9 times.^{[2] [3]}

The Delhi Jal Board was first approached by Parivartan in November 2004, following a report by the newspaper The Asian Age, where the scheme was revealed to the public for the first time.^[2][3] The DJB denied the existence of the project, but after an appeal, the RTI request was granted. The documents revealed that the project began in 1998, in complete secrecy within the DJB administration.^[2][3] The DJB approached the World Bank for a loan to improve the water system, which it approved, and the effort began with a $2.5 million consultation loan. The Delhi government could have easily provided the money, and the interest rate of 12% that was to be loaned by the World Bank could have been raised on capital markets for 6%.^[2][3] Following the consultation, 35 multi-national companies bid, of which six were to be short listed, out of which PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) was found to be unethically favored, and granted the contract in 2001.^[1][4] Following the investigation by Parivartan, a campaign was waged by Kejriwal, Aruna Roy, and other activists across Delhi, and the DJB withdrew the loan application to the World Bank.^[1][2][3]

References

http://www.delhijalboard.nic.in/djbdocs/r_t_information/docs/rti_manual.htm

External links

• Delhi Jal Board