DDA, Jal Board sparring puts off HC

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday expressed serious concern over water shortage and disparity of charges in Dwarka’s housing societies compared to other areas in the capital.

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday expressed serious concern over water shortage and disparity of charges in Dwarka’s housing societies compared to other areas in the capital.

HT Image

On May 5, HT had carried a story based on RTI findings that Dwarka residents pay almost 138 per cent more for water than the rest of Delhi.

As the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) and the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), the agency which developed the societies, blamed each other, the court called a high-level meeting to resolve the issue by July 19. The court was hearing a five-year-old complaint filed by a group of housing societies in Dwarka

“Why don’t you take steps to solve it? Why do you fight with each other? How can housing societies be without water? This has been a problem for almost 15 years,” Justice G S Sistani told lawyers of both sides.

The agencies have been asked to report on the status of DJB take over by August 3.

Holding DDA responsible for higher water prices, Sumeet Pushkarna, lawyer for DJB, told the court they supplied water to DDA at Rs 6.46 per kilolitre. But DDA added booster, pumping and other peripheral charges and supplied it at around Rs 8.50 per kilolitre.

“NDMC and other civic agencies get the water at the same rate but they supply it at a lower rate. Why can’t DDA too give some concession?” Pushkarna asked. DDA contended that DJB had gone back on its promise to take over water supply in Dwarka.

But Pushkarna argued that DDA was yet to set up connected infrastructure and it could take over the supply only after that.