Aim to provide 24-hour clean, safe water: Kejriwal

New Delhi, Jan 6 (SocialNews.XYZ) Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Monday that his aim is to provide clean and 24-hour water supply to all in the next five years.

Addressing a Delhi Jal Board (DJB) event at the IGI Stadium here, Kejriwal expressed gratitude to DJB officials for providing water in every nook and corner of the city.

He also listed down his aim to provide clean and 24-hour water supply to all, laying down sewer pipelines in every area and cleaning up river Yamuna in the next five years.

He praised the officials and said that Delhi Jal Board officials have done commendable work in the field of water and sewer in the last five years.

"When our government was formed five years back, only 58 per cent of Delhi received tap water directly from the pipelines while the rest of the city received water from the tankers. I am proud that today 93 per cent of Delhi receives water from the pipelines. The rest 7 per cent of Delhi will start receiving tap water within the next one-and-a-half years. Laying water pipelines in the whole of Delhi was a huge task for our government, the Chief Minister said.

"If water could not reach the whole of the national capital in the last 70 years, it will take many more years to reach our villages across the country. If we could provide water additionally to 35 per cent of Delhi, it means that development is possible. But DJB officials were not given a chance to work before we came to power," he said.

He informed that out of the 1,797 unauthorised colonies in Delhi, water pipelines have been laid in 1,554 colonies, and sewer pipelines have been laid in around 1,200 colonies.

"Pipeline installation in the rest of the colonies will be done within the next one or two years," said Kejriwal.

The 70-member Delhi Assembly will go to the polls on February 8, while the counting of votes will take place on February 11.

Source: IANS