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New Delhi: The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has come down strongly on the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) in a recent report, stating that water shortages in the city are increasing and plans the government had made to avert this situation have not come to fruition. The DJB also failed to ensure adequate water quality testing and sewage treatment, the report notes.

More than half of the groundwater samples tested in the city between 2017-18 and 2021-22, the CAG has said, were unfit for drinking and posed a “serious risk” to the public.

Titled ‘Functioning of Delhi Jal Board’, the report was tabled in the Delhi assembly on March 23. It says that out of the total of 16,234 groundwater samples tested by the eight zonal laboratories of the DJB during the period 2017-18 to 2021-22, 8,933 samples, or 55%, were found unfit for potable purposes – or sub-standard for drinking.

The key issues that have led to this, according to the CAG, were a lack of a water policy, regulatory gaps, weak infrastructure, ineffective treatment facilities and a shortage of staff. Combined, these hint at an overall shortcoming on part of the water supplier, resulting in a health and environmental crisis.

One of the issues flagged by the CAG report is the widening shortage of water in the city. The report notes:

“For Delhi’s projected population of approximately 28 million by March 2041, Delhi Jal Board (DJB) assessed requirement of 1680 million gallons per day (MGD) of water. The shortage in availability of raw water against the assessed requirement increased from 22 per cent (2017-18) to 24 per cent (2021-22) whereas the shortage in potable water against the assessed requirement increased from 24.2 per cent to 25.79 per cent. Main reason for the gap between demand and supply of water was inadequacy of raw water sources, its treatment capacity and failure to augment its supply.” [emphasis added]

“For Delhi’s projected population of approximately 28 million by March 2041, Delhi Jal Board (DJB) assessed requirement of 1680 million gallons per day (MGD) of water. The shortage in availability of raw water against the assessed requirement increased from 22 per cent (2017-18) to 24 per cent (2021-22) whereas the shortage in potable water against the assessed requirement increased from 24.2 per cent to 25.79 per cent. Main reason for the gap between demand and supply of water was inadequacy of raw water sources, its treatment capacity and failure to augment its supply.” [emphasis........

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