Gautam blames DJB's inefficiency as Kejriwal set to take over water department

Rajendra Pal Gautam feels that Arvind Kejriwal will be able to tackle the situation at the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) better than him after it was announced that the Delhi Chief Minister is set to take over the water department from Gautam.

"I think Kejriwal can tackle such situations and people in a better manner," he said while speaking to ANI.

Speaking about the problems in the DJB, Gautam pointed at the inefficiency on the part of the people who make the decisions as a reason for letting the Chief Minister take charge of the department.

He said, "Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) wants to make sure that clean water reaches all the households in Delhi. This requires some effort and there are some people in the Board who won't do their work."

Gautam, who had taken over the water department barely three months ago, said that top officials including the DJB CEO were not letting him work and keeping him in the dark in matters of importance.

"The CEO says that the DJB has incurred losses up to 50%. My aim is to detect the losses. Secondly, they should concentrate on smaller projects like helping the water reach out to people," he said.

Gautam added that the DJB is planning to add 906 MGDs in the state as the ones which currently exist are not functioning as they had expected them to.

"We are planning to install 906 MGDs and if we manage to do that, the water related problems in the state will go down. The ones which were previously installed isn't functioning as they were expected to," he said.

Kejriwal met Gautam at his residence yesterday and conveyed the decision of taking over the DJB to him.