After MCD, it is Delhi Jal Board’s turn to be divided

First it was the power utility, then the municipality, and now the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) that may be divided. Nivedita Khandekar reports.

First it was the power utility, then the municipality, and now the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) that may be divided.

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The city’s water utility is contemplating conducting a study on the present structure and suggest an exercise for division.

The Planning Commission has been pushing for such restructuring to introduce competition and improve efficiency.

The DJB has already outsourced certain services, including water distribution in three areas and the running of water treatment plants. The water utility is also introducing several changes based on the public-private-partnership models.

A division comes as a next step in the ‘reforms and restructuring’ suggested by the Planning Commission.

A consultant will be appointed to conduct the study. “The basic idea behind the study is to find our whether you need one large single body for the entire city or different smaller bodies,” said a DJB official.

The study will explore if the division can be taken up on the basis of DJB’s water treatment plants’ command area. It will not just encourage competition amongst the areas vis-à-vis better water supply, but also improve efficiency.

“It (the study) is in the pipeline. We are yet to appoint a consultant,” said Ramesh Negi, CEO of DJB.

The Delhi Vidyut Board was dismantled in 2002, and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) was divided into three in 2012.