The Hindu : New Delhi News : It's `swadeshi' vs `videshi' at DJB

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jan 03, 2005

New Delhi

New Delhi

It's `swadeshi' vs `videshi' at DJB

By Lalit K. Jha

NEW DELHI, JAN. 2. Varunalaya, headquarters of the Delhi Jal Board in Karol Bagh, is witnessing an "interesting debate" these days. The prominence being given to the Sonia Vihar water treatment plant by its officials has not gone down well with many employees. A majority of them feel that DJB is giving preference to the elite and the rich residing in the posh South Delhi colonies over the poor and lower-middle class living in unauthorised colonies of Outer Delhi and rural areas of the Capital.

On the other hand, senior officials argue that Sonia Vihar plant is being given importance as it would solve all the water woes of the Capital in the coming years and also the project's success is crucial for reforms and "luring" of private players in Delhi's water sector.

The employees are quick to point to the fate of the Bawana water treatment plant which has been waiting to be commissioned for more than a year. With a treatment capacity of 20 million gallons per day (MGD), the Bawana plant has not been operationalised so far due to non-availability of raw water.

"Unlike the Sonia Vihar plant, no serious effort has been made so far to get the requisite raw water from the Western Yamuna Canal. This is because, the water from Bawana would be supplied to Outer Delhi and rural areas, whereas that of Sonia Vihar would go to South Delhi," a DJB employee argued. Another employee said same was the case with the 40-MGD Nangloi plant. "This plant, which again supplies water to Outer Delhi and rural areas, is running far below its capacity because of non-availability of raw water. Why has there not been a similar effort like in the Sonia Vihar plant to bring water to these two plants?" he asked.

Referring to the official per capita availability of water, an executive engineer said while the DJB at present supplies 148 litre per person per day (lpd) to South Delhi, it is a mere 39 lpd in Outer Delhi and rural areas of the Capital. "So which areas should get priority -- South or Outer Delhi? Where is the real crisis?" asked the engineer, requesting anonymity.

Stating that while the Sonia Vihar plant was constructed by an international water giant which is also responsible for its operation and maintenance for 10 years, and Bawana plant has been constructed by an Indian company and DJB would be operating it, the official said: "The Delhi Government has made the Sonia Vihar plant a prestige issue, because of the involvement of private players in it. It is an issue of "swadeshi vs videshi" in the DJB now."

While the DJB has permanently stationed an engineer at Lucknow to ensure that the Uttar Pradesh Government issues necessary orders for release of water to the Sonia Vihar plant, there has been no such effort either for the Bawana or the Nangloi plant.

However, officials supporting the cause of the Sonia Vihar plant argue that they are giving so much importance to the plant as Delhi's future so far as water is concerned depends on this state-of-the-art plant. Arguing that reforms in the DJB depended on commissioning of the Sonia Vihar plant, the official said: "Our ambitious 24 X 7 project, the first step towards public-private partnership in South Delhi, would start only after the plant starts treating water," said a DJB Board member. "We have been making efforts to get raw water for Bawana and Nangloi plants, but we are concentrating more on Sonia Vihar because if the plant becomes operations, it would solve the water woes of the entire city and not one particular area," the DJB member said.

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