The number of complaints on the issue consists 43% of all civic complaints made by people during the year, which makes it the top civic issue of citizens in the Capital city
Lack of water supply remained the biggest complaint of residents in the Capital, last year as a total of 1,65, 735 complaints regarding the issue were registered by the Delhi Jal Board (DJB). The number of complaints on the issue consists 43% of all civic complaints made by people during the year, which makes it the top civic issue of citizens in the Capital city.
Despite this record available with the government, the issue of water supply has only gone bigger this summer, even as the Delhi government and the Centre continue to indulge in the blame-game over the issue.
The figures were revealed in a survey conducted by Praja, an NGO, based on RTI responses received from various government departments.
The number of complaints registered for 'no water supply' increased from 34,554 in 2015 to 52,100 in 2017, which is an increase of 51 %, while complaints relating to 'contaminated water' rose from 27,227 in 2015 to 33,884 in 2017, an increase of 24%.
Also, the report mentioned that the RTI response stated that data of complaints for three months could not be recorded because of it being lost due to technical glitches. However, despite the number of complaints registered, only 29 issues related to the problem were raised in the Delhi Assembly by the AAP MLAs during the last year.
On complaints such as shortage of water, dirty water, which have always been on the political agenda, MLAs have asked only 59 questions on water supply in 2017.
The Capital continues to suffer despite the fact that the water utility is headed directly by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. Also, piped connections to colonies and sufficient water supply were the biggest poll promises made by the AAP before coming to power in 2015.
This is especially alarming since contaminated water is a breeding ground for diseases. According to RTI data, there were a total of 6,22,480 diarrhoea cases in 2016 and 303 institutional deaths in the Capital due to diarrhoea in 2014 and 2015.
This is followed by an increase in the number of sewerage-related complaints registered by the DJB. There has been a 14% increase since 2015, as the complaints rose from 64,481 to 73,088 in 2017. The issue was found to be the second most complained-about.
Another issue, which bothered residents was the unauthoursied constructions, against which 54,5301 complaints were recorded as against 40,187 in 2016 and 42,204 in 2015.
Jal board lost track of complaints
The report highlighted that the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) had lost track of complaints filed by the residents of the Capital for a period of three months in 2017. Justifying their stand, the DJB claimed technical problem in CRM (Complaint Redressal Mechanism), which resulted in the DJB losing the data of complaints.
Contaminated
This is especially alarming since contaminated water is a breeding ground for diseases. According to RTI data, there were a total of 6,22,480 diarrhoea cases in 2016 and 303 institutional deaths in the Capital due to diarrhoea in 2014 and 2015.
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