Arvind Kejriwal orders CAG audit of Delhi Jal Board after allegations of corruption
Dec 06, 2023
New Delhi [India], December 6 : After questions were raised over financial irregularities in Delhi Jal Board by the opposition, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has ordered a CAG Audit of the last 15 years of the water board.
The objections and concerns of financial irregularities and mismanagement raised by the finance department.
Speaking to mediapersons here, CM Kejriwal said "Opposition is levelling some allegations. So, with this, (audit) everything will be crystal clear. We have ordered a CAG audit of the Delhi Jal Board for the last 15 years. If someone has done something wrong, they will be punished. If there is no discrepancy, the truth will come out."
He further said that due to non-release of funds, a huge problem of water and sewerage is going to arise in the entire Delhi.
"If this entire bureaucracy is not accountable to the elected government, it will become impossible to run the government. At present, due to funds not being released to the Jal Board, a huge problem of water and sewerage is going to arise in the entire Delhi. They are not releasing Delhi Jal Board's second instalment of grant-in-aid," Kejriwal said.
Previously, Bhartiya Janata Party spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia accused Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of being 'crime master Gogo', a fictional character who dupes people and accused the AAP government of discrepancies in the Delhi Jal Board's (DJB) tendering process for upgrading its sewage treatment plants.
Questioning the AAP government's silence on the Delhi Jal Board scam Bhatia alleged, "There are many illegalities in the said scam, but the 'crime-master' Gogo (Arvind Kejriwal) will not speak a word on corruption-related matters.
The BJP leader said ten sewage treatment plants in the city were divided into two categories and only upgradation was to be done in the first category, while in the second category, the work was related to increasing the capacity.
Delhi Minister Atishi also wrote to Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena demanding suspension and disciplinary action against Finance Secretary Ashish C. Verma for allegedly stopping funds of Delhi Jal Board citing non-release of funds can lead to a public health crisis soon.
"As far as DJB is concerned, non-release of funds can lead to a public health crisis- soon and there will be large parts of Delhi getting contaminated water, sewer lines will be overflowing, water shortages will be seen. For a critical public utility like water, funds have to be released in a matter of hours, not even days, since it is the lifeline of the city," Atishi said.
