AAP govt yet to address water woes: NGO survey

NEW DELHI: Water woes in Delhi have only increased in the past two years under the Aam Aadmi Party government, despite the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) being under its jurisdiction, a survey by an NGO said on Tuesday.

According to the ‘Delhi MLA Report Card’ released by Praja Foundation, an NGO, complaints regarding no supply showed a sharp rise from 34,554 in 2015 to 52,100 in 2017.

While the overall performance of legislators in Delhi improved from 53.45% in 2017 to 55.4% in 2018.

The report said Delhi residents in general are perceiving MLAS to be the “least corrupt”. “From 67.8% in 2016 to 60.9% in 2017 and 85.7% in 2018, the perception that city’s MLAS are least corrupt has increased over the years,” Milind Mhaske of Praja Foundation said.

While questioning the credibility of the NGO, an AAP government spokesperson refused to comment on the survey.

Praja Foundation said it covered 28,624 people in the national capital, excluding Delhi Cantonment and New Delhi Municipal Council areas.

The survey covered 58 of the 70 MLAS , excluding cabinet ministers and a few other legislators.

“The AAP stormed to power by winning 67 of 70 seats in the Delhi Assembly. Areas in which they could really make a difference are education, water supply, environment and citizens outreach, which have not been addressed as it should have been,” Nitai Mehta, managing trustee of Praja Foundation, said.

The top three MLAS with the best overall ranking in terms of attendance in the Assembly, number and quality of issues raised, least criminal record and perceived performance were AAP’S Mohinder Goyal from Rithala, BJP’S Jagdish Pradhan from Mustafabad and AAP’S Rajesh Gupta from Wazirpur.

The bottom three were AAP’S Parmila Tokas from RK Puram, Amanatullah Khan from Okhla and Sarita Singh from Rohtas Nagar.

While the two women legislators refused comment, Khan said the survey was “bogus”. public complaints to DJB over water supply citizen complaints over choked drains, blockages and overflowing manholes MLAS raised only 59 issues in 2017 in Assembly MLAS raised only 4 issues in 2017

“I have done a lot of work. Of the 32 colonies, I have got water pipelines laid in 24. Three new schools were opened in slum clusters and sewer works worth ₹49 crore are currently underway,” he said.

The report said only 15 MLA raised five issues or fewer in the Assembly between March 6, 2017 and January 17, 2018.

Two AAP legislators — Devinder Kumar Sehrawat and Parmila Tokas —did not raise a single issue, the survey stated. “I have got works cleared that were pending for the last 15 years. These included construction of flyovers, underpasses and removal of encroachments, among others,” Sehrawat said.

The six MLAS who raised the most public issues are BJP’S Jagdish Pradhan, Manjinder Singh Sirsa and Vijender Gupta, and AAP’S Mohinder Goyal, Rajesh Gupta and Jarnail Singh.

“My constituency (Mustafabad) is one of the most backward areas. Sewer and water related work is almost complete. I have got a number of roads constructed and also got broken ones repaired,” Pradhan said.