DJB eyes revamp route to fill city tanks (Indian Express 27 April 2010)

The Jal Board owns 250 tankers and hires at least 600 private tankers daily to ensure supply to at least 1,600 colonies archive

The Delhi Jal Board (DJB) has formulated plans to cut down pilferage of potable water by water tanker mafia in the Capital.
Unable to check corruption in its ranks, the DJB is going to revamp the entire tanker supply system by introducing new technologies that will help it monitor the movement of tankers to and from various delivery points, and also put a check on wastage by leakage in tankers.
Besides supplying water through tankers to regular colonies in case of pipeline burst or shortage of water supply, the DJB is mandated to supply water tankers at 18,349 delivery points in the city. While the department owns 250 tankers, it hires at least 600 private tankers on a daily basis to ensure supply to at least 1,600 unauthorised-regularised colonies.
“We have often received complaints by residents that DJB tankers charge money for the supply and sometimes do not reach the point of delivery. There have also been complaints of our tankers supplying water to hotels and malls for extra money. With corruption prevailing in the department, it is difficult to know if the tankers are reaching the destination in the absence of a monitoring system,” a senior DJB official said.
To overcome the problem, the DJB plans to enter into a public-private partnership to revamp tanker management by introducing technological changes to tankers. These changes include biometric identification of drivers, a GPS system to monitor the tanker movement, a flow meter to account for the amount of water taken and supplied, a chlorimeter to ensure the water quality and an auto lock system to put a check on leaking tankers.
“We have invited technical bids for the project and will be able to finalise the details soon. The project should begin in three months,” Dharam Pal, DJB’s Member (Administration and Finance), told Newsline. He is spearheading the tanker revamp project.
Pal said the idea was to introduce technology in an area where human intervention has failed. “With the new system in place, we would be able to check the last route taken by the tanker driver and the flow meter would account for the amount of water taken by the tanker for delivery to be cross-checked at the various points of delivery,” he said.
“The tankers will also be fitted with an auto-lock system check the leaking tankers. We have designed the system in such a way that the tanker has six delivery outlets instead of one, so that more people can take water at a given point.”
The new system would also ensure the citizens are able to book water tankers on phone, internet and the Delhi government’s Jeevan Centres.