Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia
| Photo Credit: ANI
Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Wednesday said the Delhi government will bring a one-time settlement scheme within a week to resolve all issues related to inflated water bills to clear pendency.
He said the decision was taken at the latest meeting of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), where projects to overhaul water and sewer infrastructure were also approved.
Mr. Sisodia said there are 26 lakh water connections in the DJB, of which owners of 18 lakh connections have no issue with their bills. However, the bills of eight lakh connections have been pending due to some issue or the other. “In the previous meeting of the DJB, it was decided that a 100% late surcharge will be waived on the pending water bills to clear the pendency. Nearly 4.5 lakh residents have taken benefit of this LPSC (late payment surcharge) scheme and the DJB has received ₹252 crore through this. The deadline to take benefit of this scheme is till 31st January,” he said.
Mr. Sisodia added that so far, the government has been facilitating installation of water metres in households, but there were many instances where it was delayed. “This affected the water bills of many consumers. Now, residents need not wait for the DJB to get the water metres installed or replaced, they can get it done on their own. This will benefit the residents and they will get regular and correct water bills.”
New underground reservoirs
The Deputy CM further said that the DJB approved construction of 10 underground reservoirs across the city to ensure 24×7 water supply. Of these, seven will come up in Okhla, Rajinder Nagar, Patel Nagar, Karol Bagh, Jakhira, Anand Parbat, and Naraina and benefit nearly 26 lakh people.
Mr. Sisodia added that the government will lay a 300-km pipeline, while 84 km of the old pipeline will be upgraded.
He also announced that a 280-km long sewer line will be laid through Burari, Karawal Nagar and Narela Assembly Constituencies, which will help about 4.17 lakh people in 44 unauthorised colonies and 14 villages. This, the Deputy CM said, will boost the plan to completely clean the Yamuna by 2025 as due to lack of sewer lines in the unauthorised colonies and villages of Burari and Narela, dirty water flows into ponds, septic tanks and finally into the Yamuna.
‘Pressure from BJP’
Reacting to the development, Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said that Mr. Sisodia had to accept the issue of incorrect bills and announce the one-time settlement scheme due to continuous pressure from the Opposition BJP and a January 4 press conference by Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Ramvir Singh Bidhuri on the same issue.
“The Kejriwal government finally had to give relief to the public under the pressure of the BJP, but with the one-time settlement scheme, the DJB should also ensure that people do not have to visit the Jal Board offices for settlement. The DJB should, in collaboration with R.W.A’s, organise bill settlement camps in the colonies,” said Mr. Kapoor.
He also demanded that a similar scheme should also be brought for electricity consumers, who face problems of excessive bills and power load charges.