New Delhi, March 9 -- The Delhi Assembly on Saturday passed a resolution that directed the chief secretary to address issues related to overflowing sewers and problems of contaminated water in the national capital within a week.

The resolution said the complaints of people regarding overflowing sewers and contaminated water should be addressed on a war footing and added that the chief secretary will be responsible for disposal of these complaints. The resolution gave one week to the chief secretary for resolving the complaints. He has also been asked to submit a daily report to the Delhi government's water minister.

It has also called a House session on March 15 for a detailed discussion on the issue and asked the chief secretary to be personally present and present a progress report on the complaints. The House proceedings of the ongoing Budget session have been adjourned till 11 am on March 15. Speaking in the House, Water Minister Atishi said she has been receiving 50-100 complaints regarding overflowing sewers, contamination due to intermixing of sewer and drinking water and leakage of water pipelines.

"Responsibility needs to be fixed and action ensured. Enquiry and action against those officials responsible for the existing problems should be ensured by the chief secretary," Atishi, who is also the Delhi Jal Board chairperson, said.

The resolution, tabled by AAP Chief Whip Dilip Pandey, said people from different constituencies have been complaining about sewer overflows and contamination of water supply. e said the Delhi Jal Board has failed to resolve the issue despite regular complaints. Atishi charged that despite orders, the Delhi Jal Board CEO neither visited the affected areas nor submitted any ground report.

"On Friday (March 8) alone, I received 80 complaints within 24 hours, both on my official email and personal email, related to Delhi Jal Board matters. The problem related to the Delhi Jal Board has become quite widespread in Delhi," she said.

The board's grievance redress portal has over 10,000 pending complaints, she claimed. "I have sent these complaints to the CEO and members of the board several times. As the number of complaints continued to rise, I instructed all the Delhi Jal Board officials to conduct morning rounds in their respective areas to investigate the complaints," Atishi said.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.