We are confident that Delhi will have its best summer this year: Kapil Mishra

But this happened after the court ordered Haryana to release water to Munak canal?

Yes, but it was our government which fought the case. The Congress government could not do it. It was our government’s responsibility to get water to Delhi. We are confident that Delhi will have its best summer this year.

How?

Because we have extended our piped water network. There was no piped water in most of the 217 colonies I mentioned earlier. When we brought the Rs 20 crore subsidy, people said we don’t know how to run the economy and that Delhi Jal Board will sink. We ended up earning revenues of Rs 178 crore.

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And the sewers?

Besides regularising illegal sewer lines, the cost of taking a new connection was lowered from Rs 494 per sq m to Rs 100 per sq m. More people are now joining the government sewerage network and we are earning revenue.

Any measures you could not implement?

We wanted to introduce piped water in all colonies. But it proved to be time-consuming. Last year, we covered 217. This year we plan to cover 300. By December 2017, every colony in Delhi will have piped water.

How are you dealing with the problem of laying down pipelines because the construction is so haphazard?

That’s a problem, but it can’t be an excuse. Sangam Vihar has 38 colonies . We mapped them and tendering for the pipeline is over. Next month, laying pipes will begin and in one-and-a-half hour, each house will have piped water. Sangam Vihar used to be a case study for UN and World Bank because of its water problem. Now it will become a case study on how to provide piped water in a densely-populated unauthorised colony.

Has anything been done about cleaning the Yamuna as mentioned in the manifesto? And will it also boost tourism?

On one level, the Delhi government, central government and neighbouring states have to be in dialogue. On the next, the Delhi government has to come up with plans. On our part, we are trying to arrest untreated water from being discharged into the river. We are also trying to ensure sewer treatment plants are set up. We want to develop activities around the river so that people can visit. We have a three-year plan to make the water suitable for bathing.