New Delhi, Sep 23 (Inditop.com) Taking serious view of the fact that a locality in east Delhi has not been receiving water supply for the past 87 days, the Delhi High Court Wednesday pulled up the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) and asked it to ensure water supply there.
A division bench of Chief Justice Ajit Prakash Shah and Justice Manmohan said: “DJB will ensure water reaches to every home in the locality.”
The court asked the chief engineer of the DJB to formulate a plan so that water reaches every home in the locality and asked him to submit the plan Sep 26, the next date of hearing.
DJB had in its reply to the court said: “The area is situated at the tail end, so low pressure sometimes leads to erratic supply from the Bhagirathi water treatment plant.”
It pointed out that the population of the area has almost doubled over the years, leading to a rising demand for drinking water compared to the supply.
Counsel for DJB submitted that the board will supply water with the help of tankers and added that due to some technical problems it was not in a position to supply water by pipelines.
On this, the court pulled up by the DJB and said: “You should have taken this step earlier. Why do you have to wait for the court orders to come? Why is there no initiation from your side?”
The court was hearing a public interest petition filed by advocate Surendra Sharma, a resident of Mohalla Ganga Ram in Shahdara. He pleaded before the court that there has been no water supply in his area for the past 87 days.
Seeking an explanation, the court had issued a notice to the chairperson, CEO, the executive engineer and the chairman of the Trans Yamuna Area Development Board.
“We have written letters to DJB authorities for the restoration of water supply but they turned a blind eye and paid no heed to our problem,” Sharma told the bench, adding that water bills are sent to them regularly though there has been no water supply.
The petitioner demanded compensation of Rs.200,000 from the DJB for the inconvenience caused to the residents of the area and sought directions from the court to quash the water bills.
