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DJB says 8 samples met safety standards, challenges BIS report
New Delhi
New Delhi
The tussle over the quality of water supplied in Delhi continued on Friday with Delhi Jal Board’s (DJB) vice-chairman Dinesh Mohaniya challenging a Bureau of Indian Standards’ (BIS) report that suggested Delhi’s tap water was the worst among major Indian cities and not fit for drinking without further purification.
Mohaniya said at least eight out of 11 samples collected from the same locations showed contradictory results.
Earlier on Friday, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had said the issue was being “politicised” even as he emphasised on how the number of localities in the city that complained of regularly receiving polluted water had reduced by around 95% in the last five years.
A controversy over Delhi’s tap water had erupted on November 16 when Union consumer affairs minister Ram Vilas Paswan shared findings of a study conducted by the BIS, which suggested Delhi’s tap water had failed quality tests.
For the BIS test, 11 samples were collected from Delhi, including that from the minister’s residence and Krishi Bhavan. The results showed that each of them failed in several parameters — that include odour, coliform, aluminium, anionic detergents, turbidity, manganese and even pH value.
Mohaniya said the DJB collected samples from the same locations in the past three days, except from Paswan’s residence in Janpath and from one other household, which was found to be locked.
“Of the nine samples tested, eight turned out to be fit in all parameters. One turned out to be deficit with regard to chlorine and, hence, failed in one parameter. The samples were tested on 31 parameters across three laboratories in the city,” said Mohaniya.
The BIS report, however, did not list details of the safe ranges of the parameters under consideration and how much the collected samples scored in each.
Addressing a press conference on Friday, Kejriwal said, “The water issue has been politicised. We do not want to indulge in a war of words. I rather have a request. If you [residents of Delhi] have a problem with the supplied water, please let us know. I assure you that it will be fixed at the earliest. Clean water is our priority.”
He said, “When our government had come to power, Delhi had 2,300 spots which complained of receiving polluted water. Now the number has reduced to 125. We will further reduce that to zero in a few months.”
Since 2015, the Delhi government has replaced more than 900 metres of water pipelines in the city, showed records of the Delhi Jal Board.
Neighbourhoods that have witnessed major water line replacement assignments include Burari, Vikaspuri, Patparganj, Tri Nagar, Model Town, Janakpuri, Shakur Basti and Kasturba Nagar, said senior government officials. They further said, localities where major water pipeline replacement work is in progress include Matiala, RK Puram, Ambedkar Nagar, Palam and parts of Vikaspuri and Patparganj.
