New Delhi: Officers stopping funds for Delhi Jal Board says Saurabh Bharadwaj

New Delhi : Water Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj on Wednesday said several projects of the Delhi Jal Board are stuck in a limbo due to a paucity of funds with officers obstructing money to the department.

During a discussion on the shortage of funds with the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), the minister accused Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena of knowing about the issue and not doing anything about it.

Following his speech, Delhi Assembly Deputy Speaker Rakhi Birla referred the matter of DJB's fund shortage to the Petitions Committee and directed the committee to submit its report in a month. AAP and BJP MLAs indulged in a war of words over DJB projects. While AAP MLAs said that officers were not releasing funds which was hampering projects in their constituencies, BJP MLAs said that the AAP dispensation had grown a habit of blaming others for “its inefficiencies".

Replying to the discussion, Bharadwaj said, "During the coronavirus pandemic, metre readers did not go and bills were not generated. In some cases, where bills were generated, they were not paid. But this time, the DJB was functioning and salaries were being paid.

The recurring expenses were paid using capital money. This amounted to Rs 1,500 crore." The minister said that an official from the Finance Department questioned where the Rs 1,500 crore was spent. "They questioned us on how we could spend capital money on revenue. We requested them for Rs 2,000 crore but they kept sending back files. They said they will give Rs 500 crore since Rs 1,500 crore is already there in your account," the minister said. Bharadwaj told the assembly that in the last six months no new projects have been started since they don't have funds.