Delhi unveils ambitious Water Master Plan, eyes private sector partnership

New Delhi: The Delhi government is preparing a comprehensive Water Master Plan, with a provision to rope in private players, to relieve the city residents of their woes, Water Minister Parvesh Sahib Singh said on Saturday.

Under the plan, a study of the existing infrastructure and the future expansion will be undertaken, keeping in mind the city's increasing population.

"There is a need for a holistic approach towards fixing the water sector challenges that we face, so for the first time a Water Master Plan will be presented. For this we have hired a consultant company which is studying all the major aspects including sources of water, requirements in future, water pipelines maintenance and other things," Singh said.


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Another aspect of the plan would be decentralisation and privatisation of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) distribution network.

"Within the next one year we will float tenders inviting big private players for management of each of DJB's existing eight Command Centres. In future these companies will be given each of the zones and they will be responsible for managing all the major operations in those areas," the minister said, according to a statement.

Under the plan, each of the companies will be tasked with the job of repairing and replacing old water pipes, billing and revenue collection, and regular water supply.

According to an official, "The DJB has already started working on Chandrawal WTP command centre under which water supply infrastructure improvement, including replacement of old lines, providing house service connections and upgradation of Underground Reservoir (UGRs) etc., have already been awarded and are in progress."

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Tenders will be floated soon for East, North-East, West and South-West zones, for which detailed project reports are being prepared, the person said.

Delhi is a largely urbanised city with a huge and growing concentration of population, which requires to be serviced with a water supply and sewage treatment.

In 2016, the Delhi government came up with a Delhi Water Policy with an outlook for the next nine years.

"Besides increasing the water supply, we are also studying ways to reduce the losses during transmission. We are also studying previous DJB reports and studies and prepare the new, comprehensive master plan for the future. These insights will be used to develop a long-term plan," Singh said.

Currently, the city's average water production ranges between 900 and 100 million gallons per day (MGD), against an average requirement of around 1,200 MGD.