'Contaminated' water deaths caused by colony lines: Dikshit

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit Friday rebutted allegations of negligence by her government, and said the two deaths from contaminated water at the NCERT Colony here were caused by an "internal" problem.

"There was something wrong with the internal water supply of the locality. I don't want to indulge in a blame game, but it's their internal fault," Diskhit said, answering a question at a seminar "Delhi: Kal, aaj aur kal" (Delhi: Yesterday, today and tomorrow) organised by the Associate Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham).

Two people died and nearly 40 took ill by contaminated water supplied at the National Council Of Educational Research And Training (NCERT) Colony in south Delhi. The residents were complaining for nearly a month of the contamination, but action was delayed.

Delhi Minister of Education and Social Welfare Kiran Walia, after visiting the colony Tuesday, said that the water in the colony was being supplied by the Central Public Works Department (CPWD), a civic agency under the central government.

A senior CPWD official explained that with sewer lines choked, sewage in backflow had got mixed with drinking water. The problem was being set right, he said.

Diskhit said the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) has all the mechanisms in place to check the purity of water, and only clean water was being supplied in the capital.