RO water plants for 20 slum clusters: Delhi CM

The chief minister said that the “root cause” of contamination of water supply should be identified and a targeted plan be made

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday directed the Delhi Jal Board officials to prepare specific plans for each area where water contamination has been reported,and announced that reverse osmosis (RO)-based purification plants will be set up at 20 slum clusters across the city for supply of clean drinking water.

Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal chairs a review meeting with the members of Delhi Jal Board, in New Delhi on Monday. (HT Photo)

Chairing a review meeting with senior officials of the water utility, the chief minister said that the “root cause” of contamination of water supply should be identified and a targeted plan be made to remove the problem.

“If there is a problem of contaminated water supply in an area, it should be eliminated completely. The identification of the areas where contaminated water is being received should be done immediately, and a detailed plan should be submitted for its permanent solution and implementation,” the chief minister said, according to an official statement.

A government spokesperson said the installation of reverse osmosis (RO) plants in 20 JJ colonies will begin “immediately”. These plants will be set up at Pankaj Garden, Sonia Gandhi Camp, Navjeevan Camp, Khanpur, Aya Nagar, Das Garden Baprola Vihar, Satyam Puram Colony and Geetanjali Enclave, among others. “These plants will provide clean water to the residents. The chief minister also directed the officials that the quality of groundwater should be checked before giving the mandatory no-objection certificate (NOCs) for installation of tube wells,” the spokesperson said.

DJB has identified 1,075 locations across 12 assembly constituencies in Delhi where 1,428 tube wells will be installed to augment availability of water. Currently, there are 4,200 tube wells in Delhi. DJB has requested the relevant department to acquire land for installation of tube wells.

“The installation of tube wells will be completed within next six months,” Delhi water minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said, according to the statement.

DJB is also installing flow meters on primary and secondary water connections at 2,700 locations for real-time audit of water supply, and the chief minister has called a review meeting on the issue on Wednesday, the statement added.