Equitable water supply a far cry but free 700l possible

NEW DELHI: The promise by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to provide 700 litres of free water to each household daily, contrary to popular belief, is easily achievable, according to experts.

"There is a lot of confusion over the water issue. AAP has promised 700 litres of free water, not that 700 litres of water will be given to each household. That is a long-term agenda. The financial aspect of this is what will be tackled almost immediately after the party forms a government in Delhi," said sources.

Delhi has 19.34 lakh connections of which 17 lakh or so are domestic ones. %Presuming that a family %has an average consumption of 20 kl per month, its monthly water bill is %Rs 196 at current rates. For 17 lakh homes, this is an %annual revenue of roughly %Rs 469 crore.

"In 2012-13, DJB made a profit of Rs 500 crore. AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal feels Delhi Jal Board is a non-profit organization, and hence if there is additional money, it should be put back into the public domain. This is an administrative matter and can be achieved within a few days," said the experts.

The odd figure of 700 litres is an outcome of the party studying the BIS standards for water supply. According to that, each person should be supplied 150 litres of water daily. Presuming that Delhi has an average family size of 4-5, the party arrived at 700 litres of free water as a lifeline supply.

On the issue of increasing supply, the party said that they would need time to ensure equitable supply to all of Delhi. "Delhi has 382 crore litres of water available for supply to 19.34 lakh connections. This makes 2,000 litres available for each family. Presuming that half of it is lost in transmission, there is still 1,000 litres available for each family which is more than the BIS standard. Delhi has a problem of governance and poor distribution. Undoubtedly, it will take a lot of effort to rectify this issue," said party sources.

However, this deals only with registered consumers. According to the 2011 census, Delhi had 34.36 lakh households. At 700 litres of water daily for each, the city would require 24,052 litres. Delhi's current production is 37,992.5 lakh of which about 10% is used for commercial and industrial purposes. That still leaves more than the water required by AAP to fulfil its promises. However, that is where the challenge for the party comes in.

Delhi's water supply is highly inequitable with NDMC areas getting a major portion. Several parts of the city have no water connection and no increase in supply is expected in the next few years. Much of the pipeline infrastructure is old and collapsing and needs to be changed. The party is not only looking at a huge expenditure but also a few years to be able to set this in order.