Have an overflowing tank? Get ready to pay up Rs 2,000 fine

If your water tank is overflowing, get it repaired soon. Because the water magistrates can impose a penalty of up to Rs 2,000 on the residents who are found wasting potable water. Nivedita Khandekar reports.

If your water tank is overflowing, get it repaired soon. Because the water magistrates can impose a penalty of up to Rs 2,000 on the residents who are found wasting potable water. Ahead of summers, when the demand for water grows exponentially, the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) will embark on its drive to challan consumers whose water tanks are found to be overflowing.

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“The available water is around 850 million gallons per day (MDG) but the demand for water goes up by 20 per cent during summers,” said Ramesh Negi, CEO, DJB. The DJB has joined hands with the Residents Welfare Associations (RWA) in various localities and is carrying out special drives to check wastage of water. If found guilty, the water magistrate can fine consumers anywhere between R100 and R2,000. “The fine amount depends on the water magistrate. However, on any given day during the drive, 20 to 25 consumers are challaned,” D Verma, DJB’s director (revenue) said.

However, the consumers do not seem to be convinced with the DJB joining hands with RWAs to check water wastage. Residents think that RWAs can warn people of the impending drive and the guilty can escape without being challaned.

“Instead, the magistrates should raid different localities without informing the RWAs and issue challans on the spot,” said Beena Juneja, a resident of Mayur Vihar, adding that the government should emphasise more and more on the awareness campaign and warn people against wasting precious potable water. As part of the annual communications and preparatory exercise, the DJB carries out cleaning or flushing of underground reservoirs, plug leaks in pipelines and also the maintenance of booster plants, among other activities.

Apart from that, bore wells, specially those in west and south-west Delhi, are calibrated or repaired.

Negi said that the intention behind announcing the summer action plan is also to “check preparedness on our (DJB) part, to regulate supply of available 850 MGD water and sensitise people about proper usage and no wastage of water”.