Moving towards partial privatisation, the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) on Wednesday concluded a two-day Jal Bhagidari workshop held to create awareness about the revamping of the water supply, transmission and distribution network under the Nangloi Water Treatment Plant. The water utility has also come out with a booklet to sensitise all stakeholders on the functioning of the public-private partnership model, which will be implemented in four project areas on a pilot basis. The areas include Malviya Nagar, Vasant Vihar and Nangloi underground reservoirs and water treatment plant, and Mehrauli. Making a case of her government hoping to provide better utility services at no extra cost, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, who addressed the concluding session of the workshop, said: “DJB has taken steps to provide 24x7 water supply in the project areas. Public-private participation in the project is not total privatisation as the DJB will continue to be the owner of all assets and the responsibility for providing water services will remain with DJB. The payment to the private operator will be independent of consumer tariff. Tariffs in the pilot project will continue to be same as that in the rest of Delhi.” DJB officials said the agency will constitute a project monitoring committee comprising area MLAs, RWAs, and civil society members. The committee will be responsible for suggesting the areas for maintenance and replacement of old or damaged pipelines, identify areas and households where DJB supply does not reach, and give updates on any leakage of water for timely repair. “The DJB will also set up a customer care centre to educate consumers on how to reduce water wastage, do away with storage and booster pumps, discourage illegal connections and deliberate on equity issues,” a DJB spokesperson said. DJB CEO Debashree Mukherjee said continuous supply under the project would save on the high coping costs for consumers in terms of water storage, tanks, booster pumps and the associated electricity charges. “Through individual water connections, all consumers will be able to get water as per demand. The project will make available piped water supply at sufficient pressure round the clock. All villages and unauthorised colonies will be provided household connections,” Mukherjee said. The DJB also distributed its booklet titled ‘Water Distribution Reforms in Delhi: Myth vs Reality’ to answer queries regarding the PPP mode of functioning “in order to ensure improvement in equity, reliability and security of water supply”.