The Hindu : Unholy nexus keeps taps dry

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, May 01, 2003

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Other States - New Delhi

Unholy nexus keeps taps dry

By Lalit K. Jha

NEW DELHI APRIL 30. Strange though it might sound, elected representatives of the Capital's citizens themselves are playing a role in the water and power crisis in Delhi. While it is the single-point contractors who are responsible for creating havoc and large-scale public resentment against the power utilities in the city, private tanker operators resorted to blackmailing tactics earlier this week.

It is quite well known that almost all private contractors, both single-point and private tanker operators, are close relatives and friends of elected representatives in Delhi. "They are local dadas and no one can take any action against them,'' a senior Delhi Jal Board official said.

A recent departmental investigation by the DJB revealed that only 30 per cent private water tankers reached their destination, be it in the slum clusters or unauthorised colonies. "They sell water to the same people for whom we send the tanker,'' the official said. As many as 70 per cent of private tankers land up at factories or farmhouses with whom private contractors have a tie-up. "All this is being done under political patronage and in collusion with senior DJB officials. If any official dares to initiate action, he is shunted out,'' sources said.

Not only this, scarcity of water in several colonies of the Capital is mainly due to illegal tapping of water by residents of unauthorised colonies with patronage of local leaders. "The water loss is as high as 40 per cent and it is due to illegal tapping of the water mains,'' the sources said.

Only recently, the Delhi Jal Board Chief Executive Officer, P.K. Tripathi, tried to stop such illegal tapping in a North-west Delhi area but the local MLA and Councillor raised a banner of revolt and created a law and problem. The security guard was badly thrashed. Thereafter, it was decided not to pursue the matter. The DJB even offered to provide legal water connections to the residents of such colonies, but this was rejected by the local leaders. "This is one of the major reasons for water crisis in many parts of Delhi,'' sources argued.

Similarly, large-scale public resentment against the Delhi Government on the power sector front is mainly due to the single-point contractors, who are mainly busy in fleecing the poor consumers of the city. These contractors have been appointed after getting the approval of the local MLA. Even senior BSES and Tata Power officials concede this fact and the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission has been receiving complaints that the contractors charge several times more than the prescribed electricity tariff.

``They are just like goondas. A majority of them charge Rs. 4 per unit of electricity, besides from Rs. 4,000 to Rs. 10,000 as connection charge in unauthorised colonies. The residents have to abide by it as they do not have any other option,'' a senior BSES official said.

The increasing number of power faults and local breakdowns is mainly because the contractors give connection to more number of houses than approved for. "This results in collapse of infrastructure. When we go for repairs, consumers oppose us thinking we are responsible for the fault,'' said a BSES official referring to the recent incident of rioting by angry consumers in the Batla House area of Okhla. "When it comes to taking action against them, the local MLA comes in defence,'' officials said.

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Unholy nexus keeps taps dry