Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia | Photo Credit: ANI
Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Wednesday said the Delhi government will come out with a one-time settlement scheme within a week to resolve all issues related to inflated water bills.
He said the decision was taken at the latest meeting of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), where projects to repair water and sewer infrastructure were also approved.
Shri Sisodia said that there are 26 lakh water connections in DJB, out of which 18 lakh connection owners do not have any problem with their bills. However, bills for eight lakh connections are pending due to one reason or the other. “In the last meeting of the DJB, it was decided that 100% late surcharge on pending water bills would be waived off. Around 4.5 lakh residents have taken advantage of this LPSC (late payment surcharge) scheme and Delhi Jal Board has received Rs 252 crore through this. The deadline to take advantage of this scheme is till January 31.
Mr. Sisodia said that till now, the government has been facilitating the installation of water meters in homes, but there were instances where it was delayed. “This affected the water bills of many consumers. Now, residents do not need to wait for DJB to install or replace water meters, they can get it done on their own. This will benefit the residents and they will get regular and accurate water bills.”
new underground reservoir
The Deputy CM further said that the DJB has approved the construction of 10 underground reservoirs across the city to ensure 24×7 water supply. Seven of these will be built in Okhla, Rajinder Nagar, Patel Nagar, Karol Bagh, Zakhira, Anand Parvat and Naraina and will benefit around 26 lakh people.
Shri Sisodia said that the government will lay 300 km of pipeline, while 84 km of old pipeline will be upgraded.
He also announced that a 280 km long sewer line would be laid through Burari, Karawal Nagar and Narela assembly constituencies, which would help around 4.17 lakh people in 44 unauthorized colonies and 14 villages. This will give a boost to the plan to completely clean the Yamuna by 2025, said the Deputy CM as due to lack of sewer lines in unauthorized colonies and villages of Burari and Narela, dirty water goes into ponds, septic tanks and finally into the Yamuna .
‘BJP pressure’
Reacting to the development, Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said Mr. Sisodia had to accept the issue of wrong bills and the one-time settlement plan announced by the leader due to constant pressure from the opposition BJP and the January 4 press conference. Had to do Ramveer Singh Bidhuri of the opposition in the assembly on this issue.
The Kejriwal government finally had to give relief to the people under the pressure of the BJP, but along with the one-time settlement scheme, the Delhi Jal Board should also ensure that people do not have to visit the Jal Board offices for settlement. The DJB, in collaboration with the RWAs, should organize bill settlement camps in the colonies,” said Mr. Kapoor.
He also demanded that a similar scheme should be brought for the electricity consumers who have to face the problem of exorbitant bills and electricity load charges.