Delhi govt to install 500 water ATMs near slums, densely populated areas

The Delhi government has planned to install 500 water ATMs to provide drinking water treated using the RO process to people in slums and other such densely populated areas, CM Kejriwal said

The Delhi government has planned to install 500 water ATMs to provide drinking water treated using the Reverse Osmosis (RO) process to people in slums and other such densely populated areas, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Monday.

The chief minister, who inspected an RO plant and inaugurated a water ATM at Khajan Basti in the Mayapuri area, said four water ATMs have been installed and 500 are planned in the first phase.

Every person will be provided with a card which will let them draw 20 litres of water per day from these ATMs free of cost, he said.

"We are all aware that it is the rich people who usually have RO facilities in their homes. Now with this facility the poor families in Delhi will also be able to receive clean RO water," Kejriwal said.

He further said that the water ATMs will be installed near slums and other such densely populated areas where pipelines cannot be laid and water is supplied through tankers.

Under a pilot project, four RO plants have already been set up and the process of setting up a network of 500 water ATMs is currently underway, the chief minister said.

Kejriwal and Water Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj, who is the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) vice-chairman, also took a sip of the water from the RO plant.

The Khajan Basti plant comprises two tanks with a combined capacity of 3,000 litres. After passing through RO and microfilters, the water undergoes high-pressure pumping, according to a government statement.

After his visit, the Delhi CM tweeted, "In the mission of providing clean water to every house in Delhi, we are also doing a unique experiment like Water ATM. We will start Water ATMs wherever we have to supply water through tankers."

In addition to the Khajan Basti Water ATM, the DJB has also installed operational RO plants in Shakurbasti, Kalkaji and Jharoda. Under the project, the DJB has to install 50 RO plants of 30,000 litre capacity each at various slum clusters. These RO Plants will treat water drawn from tube wells.

The DJB will provide RFID (radio frequency identification) cards to beneficiaries so that they can get their free quota of water. Water drawn over the daily quota will be charged at Rs 1.60 per 20 litres, the statement said.

Bharadwaj said there are several areas in Delhi where water pipelines can not be laid down legally for different reasons. In such areas, tube wells are used to draw water, which will now be treated through the RO plants and distributed free of cost, he said.

Around 2,500 cards have been provided to the residents of Khajan Basti for free RO water, he added.