Delhi Govt Announces Water Bill Waiver Scheme, Improves Sewer Connectivity

Delhi's Water Minister announced a full water bill waiver scheme and 100% surcharge waiver. The DJB approved reviving the Wazirabad water project.

Water Minister Parvesh Verma.

Source : PTI

Water Minister Parvesh Verma on Thursday said the Delhi government will bring a full water bill waiver scheme in the next few months.

For water bill waiver scheme, the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) is working on improving its billing system software and the work will be completed in two to three months.

"Soon we are planning to waive the entire late payment surcharges for domestic and government categories by 100 per cent," Verma said.

The DJB's board meeting held recently has approved a collaboration with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to revive the Wazirabad water supply improvement project.

"The project was conceptualized in 2013. However, the ADB later recused themselves from this project. Rs 2,433 crore in funds were to be provided by them for the project. We have approved the project now and will restart the entire process. As the funding will be provided from overseas, we would require permission from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA)," Verma said.

The Wazirabad project will cost around Rs 3,715 crore after escalation, the government said.

This project will benefit over 30.16 lakh people, covering an area of 123 square kilometers, including areas of Sanjay Gandhi Transport Nagar, Model Town, Burari, Lawrence Road, Punjabi Bagh, Shakur Basti, Jahangirpuri, Shastri Nagar, Avantika, Pitampura and nearby areas.

The DJB has also approved water connections for the in-situ rehabilitation project for slum dwellers at Katputli Colony near Shadipur depot and housing projects for lower-income groups carried out by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA).

In a bid to improve sewer connectivity across the city, the DJB has also approved two projects in unauthorized colonies in east Delhi's Sonia Vihar and Hassanpur areas.

"A lot of sewage directly enters from these colonies into the river. We will trap and then treat the sewage flowing by laying new lines. This will help in improving the health of Yamuna," Verma said.

The Sonia Vihar project costing Rs 69 crore will be completed in one year, a new decentralised sewage treatment plant will be constructed for Hassanpur.

The entire cost of this project, which will be completed in one and a half years, will be Rs 51.43 crore.

Verma further said the "proposal to fill 131 vacancies through the process of the Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE)" was approved during the DJB's board meeting and the "file has been submitted to the LG office for approval".

The DJB will also consider job applications from retired engineers, who have worked in public sector units (PSUs) to ensure better execution and technical supervision of projects.

The retired engineers would work as consultants. 

(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)