India, May 4 -- With Delhi heading into peak summer and water demand set to surge, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Monday issued a stern warning to officials, making it clear that any negligence in water supply or complaint redressal will invite strict action. Chairing a high-level review meeting at the Secretariat, the Chief Minister emphasised both immediate preparedness and long-term solutions to tackle the Capital's recurring water woes. "We're not just offering short-term relief, but working to end Delhi's water crisis for good," Gupta said, underlining the government's dual focus on crisis management and structural reform. "Government is fully committed to ensuring clean and adequate water for every citizen," she added. Also Read - CM seeks seamless conduct of 2 int'l Summits The meeting, attended by Water Minister Parvesh Sahib Singh, Chief Secretary Rajiv Verma and senior Delhi Jal Board officials, reviewed the status of key projects and summer preparedness. Gupta directed all major water treatment plants, including Sonia Vihar, Bhagirathi, Chandrawal, Wazirabad, Haiderpur, Nangloi, Okhla, Bawana and Dwarka, to operate at peak capacity to ensure uninterrupted supply. Coordination with Haryana is also underway to monitor ammonia levels in raw water, a critical factor in maintaining treatment efficiency. Highlighting the scale-up in infrastructure, the Chief Minister said operational tubewells have increased from 5,834 to 6,200, while water tankers have been expanded from 1,166 to 1,210, with an additional 100 on standby. Fixed supply points have risen significantly from 8,700 to 13,000. High-demand areas such as Sangam Vihar, Chhatarpur, Deoli, Palam and Bawana are receiving targeted attention through constituency-specific deployment plans. To strengthen response systems, the government has reinforced its grievance redressal mechanism with 24x7 helplines (1916 and 1800117118), ensuring complaints are routed directly to field engineers with mandatory feedback. A central control room, chatbot-based system and PPP-mode call centres have also been introduced. Additionally, 28 water emergency centres are now operational round the clock across the city. Gupta also directed officials to fast-track long-term projects, including the commissioning of a second 50 MGD water treatment plant in Dwarka and a 2 MGD recycling plant in Bawana. She highlighted that 520 new tubewells have been installed and 172 km of old pipelines replaced in 2025-26. Efforts such as leak detection drives, sewer cleaning and reservoir maintenance are also underway to ensure a more resilient water supply system.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.