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.

Complaints by consumers over poor quality water have been substantiated by Delhi Jal Board’s (DJB) vigilance department. It has issued a chargesheet against six employees for a major fraud in the procurement of alum, a chemical used for treating water, which it discovered during a raid in 2010.
Officials found only 1.2 tonnes of alum in a truck for which an invoice of 1.7 tonnes had been drawn. The alum also failed a quality test.

Once the present foggy conditions settle down, Delhiites will again have to battle with pollution-laden smog. While the temperature is still on the higher side and humidity levels are falling, Met officials and environmentalists say that the conditions are ripe for formation of heavy smog, especially since particulate matter levels have been witnessing a steady increase over the past few months.

New Delhi: A major portion of Delhi Ridge was notified as a reserved forest in 1994 after which no construction should have been allowed on the land. However, while the government struggles with the legal and logistical implications of uprooting those who have now made the Ridge their home, several more illegal constructions are cropping up each month.

Despite missing a May 31 deadline set by high court for cleaning Neela Hauz lake, Delhi Development Authority and Public Works Department(PWD) are still sparring over increasing the depth of the water body. Needless to say, no work on developing the lake has beugn even though plans have been ready for several months.
Neela Hauz was filled up in 2008 for construction of a flyover. Work started in May 2008 which had to be completed by September 2009. Like most other Commonwealth Games projects, construction work got delayed and was finished just before the mega event.

Over 700 water bodies in the capital are getting another chance at survival. Delhi government has formed an apex body, headed by the chief secretary, to catalogue and mark progress of restoration for each listed waterbody in the city.

In spite of a looming water crisis, the Delhi government and the various civic agencies are still to get their act together.

Athletes and officials staying at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Village may get to travel on vehicles that will run on a newage green fuel. Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has asked the government for land at the Village site to set up a hydrogen-CNG (HCNG) filling station.

Says Interceptors