New Delhi: Delhi Jal Board is finally planning to replace a 6km Delhi Jal Board water pipeline from Krishi Vihar to Chirag Dilli area, which in the past has proved a problem to localities like Greater Kailash I and II, Alaknanda and Chirag Dilli areas due to leakages and breaches.
DJB officials said on Saturday that the replacement of the 45-year-old pipeline would not only lead to water wastage being prevented, but also the supply being boosted. “The work will be taken up in phases because it entails digging on the Ring Road. We have had a few meetings with PWD on the matter and are awaiting certain permissions from it,” said an official.
On Friday, a pipeline broke near Krishi Vihar and disrupted water supply to several pockets in South Delhi. However, water minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said a pipeline to Dakshinpuri was damaged, not the only carrying water to GK areas.
“We will take up the work on the main pipeline of Greater Kailash after the assembly elections,” said Bharadwaj. “The work is challenging because it requires digging a very busy stretch of Ring Road. There is also a power utility line that might need to be shifted. A tender was floated a year ago for this work but there was no response.”
Chetan Sharma, chairman, Federation of GKII Complex RWAs, claimed, “The water supply was affected on Saturday too. The pipeline has been a problem on several past occasions. We also get low water pressure because the pipeline is old and cannot handle high-pressure water transfer. Every time there is a breach in the pipe, it takes DJB four-five days to repair it.”
Gautam Sen Chaudhary, former secretary, EBDP Association, added, “The water line from Krishi Vihar comes to the underground reservoir in Alaknanda, which is connected to the affected Pocket 52, M, N and P in CR Park, where people are facing problems,”
In Sept, a portion of the same line leaked on Lal Bahadur Shastri Marg and caused a minor flood on the Ring Road near the Chirag Dilli traffic intersection. In Oct too, several south Delhi areas like Moolchand, Greater Kailash, Vasant Kunj, Devli, Ambedkar Nagar, Okhla, Kalkaji, Kalkaji Extension and the surrounding areas went without water supply for two days.
