New Delhi: The first woman chief executive officer that Delhi Jal Board has ever had, Debashree Mukherjee has taken over the reins of the organization just before it enters its critical summer period. This is also a time when several projects have just been flagged off and are expected to take a concrete shape in the coming months. The 1991-batch IAS officer, who has a degree in water and environment management, aims to bring about massive improvements in consumer services.

Depletion of groundwater and its increasing pollution could be leading to a silent, nationwide public health crisis as aquifers in many stretches across India are becoming unfit for drinking, according to the government’s own figures. Depletion of groundwater and its increasing pollution could be leading to a silent, nationwide public health crisis as aquifers in many stretches across India are becoming unfit for drinking, according to the government's own figures.

New Delhi: After a delay of some years, the controversial groundwater Bill is finally ready to be presented to the Delhi cabinet. Government sources say the draft is likely to be tabled in the monsoon session of the Delhi assembly and, if passed, will make groundwater a chargeable asset in the capital. The cess on extraction will be decided at a later stage when the final points of the Bill will be prepared before it is turned into law.

New Delhi: In another attempt to allay fears that its public-private partnership projects are a precursor to privatization of the water utility, Delhi Jal Board has said it has sufficient water to ensure 24-hour supply for a large part of the city but is losing much of it through theft or leakages. The PPP model will first curtail these losses, ensure a round-the-clock supply and full domestic coverage in the project areas.

The Delhi Jal Board (DJB) on Wednesday received an additional Rs 400 crore in its pocket, with eyes on big investments in constructing new and rehabilitating the existing sewerage network in the city. The Delhi government has approved a total budget outlay of Rs 3,800 crore for 2012-12 for the city’s water utility.

New Delhi: While the Central government is working on strengthening the existing Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrine Prohibition Act,1993, seeking to ensure rehabilitation of those engaged in such dehumanizing labour, activists say that thousands of manhole workers continue to work in inhuman conditions. MCD, DJB and other civic bodies have failed to provide adequate safety gear and medical facilities and often pass the buck on to their contractors.

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday issued notices to the Union Ministry for Environment & Forests, the Central Pollution Control Board and the Delhi Jal Boad on a petition by a social activist alleging that the release of effluents from the Capital's sewage treatment plants into water bodies was polluting them as well the ground water making it hazardous for use.

‘Everybody, irrespective of where they are living should be given water to drink and for non-potable uses as well'

In the densely populated Sangam Vihar, water and its limited supply is often the reason for skirmishes between neighbours and the cause for street fights. In the absence of a well regulated water supply from the city's water utility, the Delhi Jal Board,

New Delhi: Chandrawal and Wazirabad water treatment plants were shut for production in the early hours of Tuesday due to a high level of pollution in the water. A rise in the level of ammonia from a permissible 0.5 mg to 1 mg prompted Delhi Jal Board to ask residents to boil drinking water. “At 6am, we had to shut down both plants that supply water to north, northwest, south and NDMC areas. However, the situation had improved significantly by 5pm when partial operations were resumed. Supply will be normalized by Wednesday morning,” said a DJB official.

New Delhi: Residents in large parts of the city have been flooded with inflated water bills. Take the case of Mayur Vihar resident Parbha Madan. She received a bill of Rs 987 calculated over a period of four months last year; but this time, for the corresponding period, a bill of Rs 10,787 has been generated. And she is not alone.