Water Bill Amnesty Scheme 2023: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has unveiled the “Delhi Pani Bill Mafi Yojana” (Delhi Water Bill Amnesty Scheme) on 13th June 2023 to rectify erroneous water bills. Under this one-time settlement scheme, all consumers with incorrect bills or faulty meter readings will have their bills corrected. The scheme will come into effect from 1st August 2023 and will last for three months. Approximately 11.7 lakh consumers in Delhi will benefit from this initiative, with around 7 lakh consumers having their bills waived entirely.
Resolving Water Bill Errors
In an effort to address the issue of inflated water bills, Chief Minister Kejriwal emphasized that many bills had been miscalculated due to the inability to record meter readings during the COVID-19 pandemic. Consequently, several consumers were burdened with incorrect bills. It was revealed that Delhi has approximately 27 lakh domestic water connections, out of which around 11.7 lakh consumers have pending arrears. These individuals have been unable to pay their bills due to various reasons, leading to their distress.
Water Bill Settlement Categories
Under the Delhi Pani Bill Mafi Yojana, pending bills have been categorized into two segments for providing relief to consumers.
Category 1: Consumers with Accurate Meter Readings
Consumers who have accurate readings on their meters and have had their readings verified by meter readers, along with their satisfaction, fall under this category. If a consumer has two meter readings, the average will be considered for bill calculation. If there are more than two readings, the middle reading will be taken as the average. However, if the subsequent reading is more than double the previous reading, it will be considered as an incorrect reading. For consumers falling under this category, the average bill will be calculated based on the months they have not paid, and a new bill will be generated accordingly.
Category 2: Consumers without Average Readings
For consumers without any average reading available, their neighbor’s bill within the same area and of the same size of property (300, 200, or 100 sq. yards) will be considered. The average meter reading of neighboring houses will be used to calculate the bill for these consumers.
Increasing Water Production
Chief Minister Kejriwal highlighted the government’s efforts to increase water production in Delhi. When they came into power, Delhi’s water production was 850 MGD (Million Gallons per Day), which has now been raised to 1000 MGD. The government aims to reach a production capacity of around 1300 MGD. To achieve this, significant initiatives are being undertaken, including the installation of tube wells in the Yamuna floodplains to extract water at a higher level. The treated water from these 35 plants will be stored in artificial lakes, ensuring better water management and reduced dependency on smaller tube wells. This comprehensive plan will significantly alleviate the water scarcity in Delhi.
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