Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu inaugurates water ATM in Delhi

Union Minister of Urban Development Venkaiah Naidu on Monday inaugurated a water ATM (Automated Teller Machine) in New Delhi under the 'Sarvajal' scheme to provide potable drinking water at a nominal price.

Sarvajal scheme, launched by Delhi Jal Board (DJB), seeks to provide affordable access to potable water in parched areas through water ATMs.

A water ATM is a decentralised water treatment plant that extracts the ground water which is then purified through reverse osmosis system and provided to people.

Naidu said that the government hoped to install more such water ATMs across the capital city.

"Such ATMs must be available throughout Delhi. A water ATM in Dwarka alone is not sufficient, this is just the beginning. Installing water ATMs across Delhi is our aim. Potable drinking water should be available for all, this is our aim. Safe and affordable drinking water to all people is also the aim of this government," Naidu said.

In order to provide clean drinking water to residents of the city at an affordable cost and also to solve the growing water crisis in New Delhi, Finance minister Arun Jaitley had said in his budget address that about 500 ATMs supported with ground water services will be setup in 2014-15. Rupees 1,249 crore have been allocated by the government for water supply in the Delhi budget.

Naidu added that a litre of water from these ATMs will cost 20 paise.

"A scheme called 'Sarvajal' has been started by the Delhi Jal Board and it has been launched for the public today. Under this scheme, the cost of a litre of water is very nominal with 1 litre of water costing only 20 paise," Naidu added.

Residents can draw water from these ATMs using smart cards which can be recharged at the main treatment plant. These ATMs are powered by solar energy and connected to the main server via cloud computing.