Charges slashed to 1/50th to help Delhiites without official piped water and sewer connection. The move will bring down cases of water-borne and air-borne diseases substantially.
In a major healthcare reform, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced late Friday evening that Delhi Jal Board has reduced charges for new water and sewer connections to 1/50th of the original amount. This means a Delhi resident will have to pay only pay Rs. 2310 instead of the earlier Rs. 1,14,110 for a new connection in a 200 sq. mt. plot.
A Delhi resident will have to pay only pay Rs. 2310 instead of the earlier Rs. 1,14,110 for a new connection in a 200 sq. mt. plot.
The significant reduction will benefit roughly 18%, which means around 6 lakh of Delhi’s households that currently do not have access to piped water and a hygienic sanitation system. These homes belong mostly to the middle class and lower middle class families.
Will Benefit 6 Lakh Households
CM Kejriwal, who is also the president of the Delhi Jal Board waived the development and infrastructure charges for new water and sewer connections. When AAP came to power, the charges were reduced from Rs. 500 per meter to Rs. 100 per meter. However, Kejriwal mentioned that he had observed that the costs were still steep for middle and lower middle class strata, and proved a hurdle in opting for a piped connection.
18% or 6 lakh of Delhi’s households currently do not have access to piped water and a hygienic sanitation system.
The detrimental costs meant many people had to carry and store water. It also induced illegal cuts in water pipelines. Kejriwal said that, although DJB had laid water pipelines in particular areas, most residents still did not get a connection due to the high development and infrastructure fee. Kejriwal also said the government will invest in these requirements by installing pipelines, water treatment plants, and pumping stations.
Delhi Government’s expansion of water pipelines
During the AAP tenues, the percentage of having water pipelines has gone up from 58% to around 93% with a total area covered of 1,047 square km since 2014. The reduced charges will also bring down the unaccounted or non-revenue water in Delhi as a number of people will give up illegal connections.
Till now, the current water development charge was Rs 440 per square meter and the sewer development charge was Rs. 494 per sq. mt. Now all Delhi Jal Board consumers are free from those charges. The CM also announced that to ensure the infrastructure is up to the increasing demand, Delhi Jal Board is undertaking developmental projects such as construction of an additional underground reservoir and booster pumping station at GT Road (Shahadra).
Helping prevent disease spread
Poorer areas like resettlement colonies, slums, and JJ clusters are areas where Delhiites don’t have access to piped water and hygienic sewage conditions. This spreads disease as they fetch dirty water from long distances and store it for days. Proper pipelines or water and sewer connections will bring down cases of water-borne and air-borne diseases.
Delhi Jal Board will also lay 110 km of new sewer line in Sonia Vihar and Rajiv Nagar to encourage the colonies in the area to avail of the scheme. Furthermore, DJB is also deploying new sewer cleaning machines to clear narrow streets of many areas in the capital.
