New Delhi: The Delhi government is planning a major upgrade of the capital’s water distribution system with support from a ₹2,500-crore Asian Development Bank (ADB) loan, with the proposed works focusing on network rehabilitation, metering and leakage reduction.
Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said the ADB would finance 70% of the projects, while the remaining 30% would be funded by the Delhi government. The Delhi Jal Board (DJB) has already approved two packages worth ₹805 crore and ₹935 crore for improving water supply in the command area of the Wazirabad Water Treatment Plant.
131 District Metered Areas Planned
A key component of the programme is the creation of 131 District Metered Areas (DMAs). These zones will enable authorities to measure water entering the network against the quantity reaching consumers, helping monitor losses and identify leakages and unauthorised connections.
The project also targets 100% metering of around 2.15 lakh household connections and aims to bring non-revenue water (NRW) down to 15% through network rehabilitation, accurate metering and systematic leakage monitoring.
836-Km Distribution Network to Be Developed
The planned improvements in the Wazirabad command area will cover approximately 43.96 sq km, nine underground reservoir (UGR) command areas and eight Assembly constituencies.
The proposed network work includes:
- Around 836 km of water distribution network
- Nearly 570 km of new or replacement pipelines
- Smart metering and real-time monitoring
- SCADA and other instrumentation
- DMA-based water-loss monitoring
- Rehabilitation of existing distribution infrastructure
Areas identified to benefit include Mukherjee Nagar, Model Town, Jahangirpuri, Azadpur, Keshavpuram, Pitampura, Shalimar Bagh, Tri Nagar, Paschim Vihar, Rani Bagh, Wazirpur and Ashok Vihar.
₹1,741-Crore Wazirabad Packages
The two DJB-approved packages have a combined value of approximately ₹1,741 crore:
- Package 1: ₹805 crore
- Package 2: ₹935 crore
The projects are intended to modernise the water distribution system in the Wazirabad Water Treatment Plant command area.
Wider Water Infrastructure Plans
Separately, the Delhi government has advanced a proposed ₹11,427-crore water infrastructure programme for West and South-West Delhi, which is expected to cover nearly 3,830 km of network and benefit around 36.4 lakh people.
The proposed financing model includes contributions from the Centre and Delhi government, along with loans or public-private partnership funding.
The ADB-supported Wazirabad project and the wider water infrastructure proposals form part of the Delhi government’s plans to modernise water distribution, expand metering and address losses across the city’s network.
