North mayor slams move to privatise water distribution

Mayor of North Corporation Mira Aggarwal on Friday criticised the Delhi government for its plan to privatise the water distribution system. Aggarwal said that if the government is unable to take care of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), then it should transfer water back to the corporation.

Mayor of North Corporation Mira Aggarwal on Friday criticised the Delhi government for its plan to privatise the water distribution system. Aggarwal said that if the government is unable to take care of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), then it should transfer water back to the corporation.

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She added that if water distribution is privatised, then sewerage system would also go into private hands, as both complement each other. She expressed fears that if water is privatised, water tariff in the Capital will increase, much like power. She cited the Constitutional provisions to substantiate her stand that water supply and sewerage were subject matters of the local bodies and so the DJB should also be trifurcated and handed over to the three civic bodies. The DJB had been a part of MCD till 1998, till it was made an independent body with the Delhi Government.

The Mayor also demanded that Delhi Fire Service and Slum and JJ Department be returned to the local bodies. In a letter to Lieutenant Governor Tejendra Khanna, Aggarwal wrote that the 74th Constitutional Amendment talks about strengthening the local bodies and so powers should be handed back to the corporations.