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Sewer Drains after 20 years

Sundernagari is a slum colony in East Delhi. The sewer system in this area was laid in 1983. But it has not been made operational yet. During this period, a number of residents of this area approached the politicians and Water Department (Delhi Jal Board) officials requesting them to get the sewers operational.

Every time, they were made empty promises. They would be told that action was being taken, papers were moving and the sewers would become operational very soon. However, these were merely empty promises. Nothing happened for twenty years. In the absence of sewers, the people have been facing immense suffering. They are forced to use public toilets. There have been a number of unsavory incidents with the women of the area.
Noshey Ali, a social activist residing in this area, filed an application under the Right to Information Act in March 2002. He sought to know the status of the sewer system and by when would it be made operational. The Jal Board officials replied that the system was taken over by Jal Board from DDA, who had not handed over any maps to them. There were several missing links in the whole sewer system. But Jal Board had already gotten the survey of the area conducted. Tenders had been floated. The contracts would soon be awarded and the system was expected to start by June 2003. However, the people did not find any activity taking place for the next one year. So, another application was filed by Noshey Ali in March 2003 to inspect the concerned files of Jal Board. On the designated day, when the people of this area reached Jal Board office to inspect the files, they were told that there were no files connected with this issue. This was strange. The Jal Board officials were asked how did they say last time that the work was in progress when there were no files at all. After making some excuses for sometime, they admitted that there was no work going on in the area. This meant that they had provided false information under the Right to Information Act about a year back. Under the Delhi Right to Information Act, there is a provision for deduction of salary of concerned officials who provide false information. The concerned Executive Engineer was reminded of this provision. At this, he started pleading that he would now get the survey done on an emergency basis and if the estimates of the work were less than Rs 50 lakh, he would get the work completed by June 2003. But, he said, if the amount was more than Rs 50 lakh, then he may not be able to do much as it would be beyond the powers of Jal Board authorities to sanction that amount.

This information strengthened the struggle of the people of this area. The survey was completed within the next week. The estimated amount required to complete the job came to Rs 87 lakh. The people of this area carried out a signature campaign. Almost 4000 families signed a petition to the Chief Minister requesting her to sanction this amount. A delegation of representatives of the people of this area met with the Chief Minister. She immediately summoned the concerned member of the Jal Board and advised him to expedite the matter. Since then, the proposal has been sanctioned by the Jal Board, the expenditure of this amount has been approved and contracts have been given out. The work on sewers has already started. The sewers will become operational very soon.

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