Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal called an all-party meeting on Thursday evening to discuss the ‘one-time settlement’ of water bills in the city. While Delhi Congress leaders Arvinder Singh Lovely and Haroon Yusuf joined the meeting, BJP leaders decided to boycott it, saying that they would join if the ‘airflow meter scam’ was discussed. According to party officials, the meeting was held at Kejriwal’s residence at Civil Lines.

During the meeting,  Delhi’s Water Minister Atishi and Urban Development Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj, shed light on the intricacies of the ‘One Time Settlement Scheme’ for Inflated Water Bills. During this, the Chief Minister said that the absence of the BJP in the meeting indicated their opposition to the scheme, whereas it would waive off the bills of 90 per cent of the people upon its implementation. The Congress reaffirmed its commitment to collaborate with the government in alleviating the burden on Delhiites. Delhi Jal Board Vice Chairman Somnath Bharati was also present. Kejriwal  said that the BJP’s absence from the all-party meeting indicates their opposition to the ‘One-Time Settlement Scheme’, which aims to provide relief to lakhs of people in Delhi. “We should expose the BJP in front of the people of Delhi because they are engaging in very dirty politics. If BJP has any suggestions, we will consider them,” the CM said.

Meanwhile, the Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva said that the water bill settlement issue currently prevalent in Delhi is a result of the problems created by the installation of air-flow water meters by the Kejriwal government. “Airflow meter scam is part of larger scam in Delhi Jal Board done by Kejriwal government. We will surely attend all-party meet if Kejriwal is ready to discuss the entire Delhi Jal Board scam and other scams of Delhi government,” Sachdeva said.

AAP has been raising the ‘one-time settlement’ scheme for the past week and also moved a resolution on it in the ongoing Legislative Assembly.

According to AAP, the scheme is expected to benefit more than 10 lakh consumers receiving faulty water bills across Delhi. Consumers will be able to settle arrears by paying re-casted bills in one go. The bills will get re-casted in an automated manner. Therefore, customers will not have to individually get their bills rectified at the DJB Offices.” All customers availing this scheme will need to get functional meters; this will ensure that they come within the billing ambit of DJB. This scheme is projected to bring in 11.9 lakh people under the fold of DJB. The DJB is expected to unlock a potential of Rs 2500 crores worth revenue. The OTS will provide relief to consumers as well as bring revenue to Delhi Jal Board,” the AAP said in a statement.

The DJB passed this scheme in its Board Meeting dated 13th June 2023. The scheme was to be brought to the cabinet by the Urban Development Department, which is the parent department of DJB. The Finance Department refused to give its comments. Finally, written directions were given by the Urban Development Minister to the Urban Development Department to present the cabinet note before the council of ministers by 14th February. However, the UD department refused to put up the proposal before the Cabinet saying no comments were received from Finance Department.

At the Delhi Assembly, Kejriwal had said, “I request L-G sir… if you just pick up your phone and tell these officers to clear the file, the scheme will be implemented in just three hours…”