Opposition Leader Alleges Financial Mismanagement in Delhi's Waterworks Agency

Leader of Opposition in the assembly Vijender Gupta accused the Delhi government of not preparing DJB's balance sheets to hide financial irregularities. He demanded a CVC probe into DJB's expenditure. The chief secretary's suppressed report highlighted DJB's corruption and unutilized funds. No immediate response from AAP was available.

Leader of Opposition in the assembly, Vijender Gupta, on Wednesday accused the Delhi government of failing to prepare the balance sheets of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) in a bid to conceal financial irregularities within the city's waterworks agency.

No immediate response was available from the DJB or the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) regarding Gupta's allegations.

Gupta, citing a report by the Delhi chief secretary, claimed that the AAP-led government was attempting to avoid scrutiny by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG). During a press conference, he alleged the chief secretary's report on DJB's financial irregularities was suppressed and called for a Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) probe into the expenditures of Rs 28,400 crore received by DJB since 2015-16.

Dismissing AAP ministers' claims that the DJB lacked funds, Gupta argued that budgetary allocations were underutilized, despite ongoing issues with water supply and sewerage. According to the report, DJB is unable to repay loans exceeding Rs 73,000 crore due to widespread corruption, which also hindered the preparation of balance sheets for 2021-22 and 2022-23, thus preventing CAG audits.

Gupta stated the chief secretary presented the report to the assembly on March 15, following a resolution, but opposition MLAs were not provided copies. He further accused the current water minister, Atishi, of mismanaging the budget allocations, noting significant unspent funds in both the 2021-22 and 2022 budget allocations for DJB.

(With inputs from agencies.)