Ram Vilas Paswan said drinking water is not a matter of Central government, it relates to Delhi Jal Board
Amid Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's claim that the Delhi Jal Board is providing pure water to the residents of the national capital, a report by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has said that the tap water in Delhi is not potable at all.
Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, at a press conference in Delhi on Thursday said that the water supplied by the Delhi Jal Board is not up to the standard of BIS.
An investigation by the BIS showed that samples collected randomly from 11 areas in Delhi do not comply with the BIS standard and are not safe for drinking, Paswan said.
"We want our water supply should match the global standard, but this is not happening," Paswan added.
He said, "this is not a matter of Central government. It relates to Delhi Jal Board. The Chairman Kejriwal may have objections to it, but this is not an issue of allegations and counter allegations. We just want to assert that the poor people in the national capital must get clean drinking water."
Paswan held a meeting of senior officials of the Delhi Jal Board, Municipal Corporations (NDMC), BIS, Union Jal Shakti and the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to discuss the BIS report on Delhi water.
On a query from IANS related to clean drinking water in Delhi, Paswan said, "Delhi Jal Board officials tested 100 samples of water and claimed that it is safe. Then we asked for at least 25 tested samples for investigation by BIS."
Now, when the BIS investigated the samples, a lot of deficiencies were found in the samples collected by the Jal Board, at least in the samples taken from 11 areas, Paswan said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set a target to make clean drinking water available to every citizen by the year 2024 under the scheme 'har ghar jal'. It is under this scheme that the government is testing the quality of water in all the states including 100 smart cities, Paswan added.
"We want mandatory supply of potable water. If this does not happen, we will take action against the agencies which are responsible for supplying clean and safe drinking water to the citizens," the minister said.
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