Jal Board plans a census with a difference (Hindu 19 May 2010)

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Jal Board will soon be conducting a census of a different kind. Instead of asking personal information, officials will quiz residents about the services offered to them by the water utility.
The Jal Board wants to put an end to speculation over the quality and availability of its services by collating the exact details of water supply, drainage, sewerage and solid waste management from about 36 lakh households in the city.
In the coming months, the Jal Board will hire four agencies to go door-to-door asking residents about the services — their quality and their availability.
“As of now there is no de-centralised, accurate data on how many areas have sewerage, drainage facilities, what is the quality of water received and the duration of its supply. This exercise will help us know the exact details of each ward,” said Jal Board Additional Chief Executive Officer Santosh D. Vaidya.
The data mapping the entire city, including the Capital's unauthorised areas and residential colonies, will prove useful in maintaining and upgrading the services. “The data will be of great use to four agencies: the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, the New Delhi Municipal Council, the Cantonment Board and the Delhi Jal Board. The information will help us identify the exact deficiencies in each ward and improve the quality of the services,” said Mr. Vaidya.
The protracted exercise that has been allotted Rs.8.50 lakh under the Central Government's Information Systems Programme will take up to a year from start to finish. According to Mr. Vaidya, it will take about seven months for enumeration and another three to four months for collation, analysis and report submission: “That is the time frame that has been sanctioned by the Central Government.”
The residents will be asked to furnish details on all four services based on 22 parameters. “A questionnaire is currently being readied and the agencies will ask the residents details on all aspects of the services. They will be asked about the supply hours of water, whether the water they receive is contaminated and the condition of the sewers system,” said Mr. Vaidya.
The Jal Board is also trying to work out the logistics to make the whole exercise paperless.
“We are working out the financial details of how to make it paperless. We are considering use of hand held devices to take down the details,” he added.