In a significant development during Delhi Assembly session, Vijender Gupta exposed the AAP Government's failures in addressing the longstanding water woes of Delhi.
Highlighting the Government's tendency to shift blame onto the chief secretary, Gupta criticised the administration for shirking its responsibilities and engaging in theatrics rather than providing tangible solutions.
Gupta brought to light the bureaucratic red tape introduced by successive Water Ministers — first by Satyendra Jain, who mandated ministerial approval for allocations exceeding `50 lakh, followed by Saurabh Bharadwaj, who extended this requirement to even the smallest allocations.
Given the Delhi Jal Board's (DJB) substantial annual budget of `10,000 crore, this policy has resulted in a staggering backlog of 20,000 files awaiting ministerial approval, thereby severely hampering basic maintenance and operational efficiency.
Over the past nine years, despite a reported capital expenditure of `25,000 crore by the DJB, Gupta questioned the conspicuous lack of improvement in the water distribution system.
