The Hindu : No move to privatise water supply: Dikshit

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jan 22, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

No move to privatise water supply: Dikshit

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, JAN.21. Asserting that there was no move to privatise supply or distribution of water in the Capital, the Delhi Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit, today declared that efforts were only being made to "rationalise" the system to make it more efficient. The World Bank report has nothing to do with water supply tariff increase or privatisation of Delhi Jal Board and is only aimed at restructuring the Board in the changing environment, she added.

She also ruled out any increase in charges for the present and said the rationale behind any proposed hike has to be explained to the people first and then only something can be worked out. The effort should be aimed at plugging leakages and fine-tuning the functioning of the Board before going in for a tariff increase.

Talking to The Hindu, Ms. Dikshit sought to dispel the impression that multinational companies would be handed over distribution of water in Delhi in the coming years. "An absolutely wrong impression is being created by vested interests that Delhi Jal Board and water supply was being privatised. There is no move to privatise supply or distribution of water. The French company that has been given the contract for building the 140 MGD Sonia Vihar Water Treatment Plant would only maintain the plant and ensure its upkeep. The company has been given this project on Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis for 10 years and after that the plant would be handed over to the Delhi Government," the Chief Minister said, adding that experts selected the French company after a proper tendering process and evaluation. "The whole thing was conducted in an absolutely professional manner and there is no reason for any apprehensions on this account."

Ms.Dikshit was sore that no effort had been made to ascertain facts before arriving at conclusions at various fora. The Chief Minister said while the Government or the Board was still to take a decision on the price hike or even deliberate about it, speculation was rife that the water tariff was being raised six times to eight times. "These are all unfounded reports that have been doing rounds for the past few days," she added.

Regarding the World Bank report, Ms. Dikshit, who is also the Chairperson of the Delhi Jal Board, said the report has not suggested any hike in water charges and it was meant for restructuring the Board that was presently faced with the problem of being over-staffed. She made it clear that all actions were aimed at increasing the efficiency levels and making the Board a professional outfit. Now that the power reforms have taken off successfully and things are getting better, the focus will shift to transport and water.

The French company had already built the state-of-the-art Sonia Vihar Water Treatment Plant and it is now waiting for the supply to reach the plant. Leakages alone account for 30 to 40 per cent water loss and that is the area where the Government needs to step up its efforts and bring down the losses.

"I am not worried about the shortfall in revenue collections as the budgetary support to the power sector is expected to come down by almost half in the next budget. The money saved from this sector could be used for firming up our position in the transport and water sectors,'' Ms. Dikshit asserted.

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