Kejriwal accuses BJP, L-G of stopping water bill scheme
Samad Hoque
New Delhi, February 25
Taking the opportunity to protest against ‘inaccurate’ water bills received by residents of Delhi to blow the poll bugle, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal called on the public to elect all seven Lok Sabha candidates of the INDIA bloc from Delhi to Parliament.
During a demonstration held at the AAP headquarters, a large number of Delhi residents presented Kejriwal with their inflated water bills. Speaking at a protest organised by the AAP against inflated water bills here, Kejriwal said on a lighter note that he should be given the Nobel Prize for running the government despite the alleged hurdles created by the BJP.
The CM asserted that if the BJP is a responsible party, it should support schemes that benefit the people and address their issues.
“The BJP harbours resentment towards the people of Delhi because they have elected the AAP government not once, not twice, but thrice. You gave the BJP three seats out of 70 in one election and eight seats in another; they are now seeking revenge on the people of Delhi. They question the audacity of Delhi residents in choosing a common man as their Chief Minister,” he said.
Kejriwal urged the people of Delhi to stand firm against the BJP’s vendetta and to ensure representation that prioritises their interests in Parliament.
Later, Kejriwal posted on X, “INDIA alliance will win all seven seats of Delhi. We work for the development and progress of Delhiites, BJP leaders are busy ruining Delhi. They are busy making people of Delhi unhappy.”
Kejriwal asked, “If a poor man receives a bill of Rs 40,000 or Rs 1 lakh, what will he eat, how will he feed his children, and how will he educate them?”
Assuring citizens that their bills will be recalculated after correction, the CM reaffirmed, “The AAP government is your government, it belongs to the people of Delhi, to the 2 crore residents of Delhi. If it were the BJP’s government, they would have disconnected water connections for everyone.”
Providing details of the one-time settlement (OTS) scheme, Kejriwal explained, “We devised a scheme wherein, if in the past one or five years, you have two bills that you believe are accurate, and the Delhi Jal Board confirms their accuracy, then we will calculate their average. This average will then be multiplied by the period for which you have not paid the bill, and recalculated accordingly.”
Kejriwal expressed confidence that after the bills are corrected under the OTS scheme, 95 per cent of domestic consumers in Delhi will have zero bills.
He elaborated on another provision within the OTS scheme for those who do not have a single correct water bill in the past five years. “We will determine the colony in which you reside and calculate your average bill based on the average bills of your 10-15 neighbours, presuming that your water consumption is similar. If the average bill of your neighbours is less than 20,000 litres per month, then your bill will also be adjusted to zero,” he explained.
The CM said the scheme was approved by the Delhi Jal Board on June 12, 2023, and subsequently by the Cabinet. However, he alleged that the BJP obstructed its implementation through the L-G and threatened officers.
