'Delhi turned into living hell': AAP minister Atishi to chief secretary over sewer crisis

According to an official statement, Delhi water minister Atishi said it is now the chief secretary's responsibility to resolve the crisis.

Delhi water minister Atishi on Thursday wrote to the chief secretary over the issue of "sewer overflow" at many places in the national capital, describing the situation as a “living hell” for residents.

Delhi Minister and AAP leader Atishi. (PTI)

According to Atishi, she personally inspected the sewer overflow in several areas in Uttam Nagar and spoke with residents frustrated by the persistent issue.

The minister said she was confronted with the “absolutely shocking” state of sewer overflow, which has turned these localities into breeding grounds for diseases.

"When I reached there, the state of sewer overflow was absolutely shocking. These localities have been turned into a living hell. This kind of sewage overflow is a breeding ground for several diseases and can cause a serious public health crisis,” Atishi said.

When the residents report their grievances to DJB field staff, the minister said, they are often met with responses citing a lack of machines, insufficient staff, and budgetary constraints as reasons for the delayed or non-existent maintenance.

She revealed that the number of contractual workers had plummeted from 73 last year to just 18 this year. The availability of sewer cleaning machines has also been cut in half, from 14 to 7. This reduction, according to Atishi, has severely hampered the DJB’s ability to manage and resolve sewer blockages.

The minister called for the deployment of adequate manpower and machinery across the city within the next 48 hours, ensuring that no part of Delhi suffers from sewer overflows. She warned that failure to address the issue could lead to a major public health crisis and threatened to hold the responsible officers accountable for any ensuing epidemic-like situation in the city.

"Delhi has been turned into a living hell because an artificial financial crisis has been created in DJB. This cannot be allowed to go on. When the government has allocated a large budget for the DJB, proper deployment of machinery and manpower needs to be done on the ground. Otherwise, the officers busy shuttling the files and causing a financial crisis in DJB will be held responsible for creating a public health crisis and epidemic-like situation in Delhi," she added.