Residents of the parched Dwarka region may get to pay as much as 28 per cent less on water bills. The good news will follow once Delhi Jal Board (DJB) takes over the responsibility of supplying water to the area from Delhi Development Authority (DDA). Once the takeover is complete, Dwarka city residents are expecting a drop in their water bills by up to Rs 4 per kilolitre.
If things go as planned, then the city’s water utility is expected to take over water supply in Dwarka by the yearend, as ‘in-principle’, the DJB has already agreed to do so. With this, Dwarka residents, who are currently paying the most on water bills compared to the rest of the national Capital, are set to get major relief.
“If things go as plan then apart from regular water supply, a big advantage for us would be a dip in our water bills. At present water in Dwarka is the costliest as various charges under categories like boosting, transmission, cess and so on are levied on us. If DJB takes over, we can expect a reduction of at least Rs 4 per kilolitre,” said Mukesh Sinha, President, Federation of Dwarka Cooperative Group Housing Societies (FDCGHS).
At present, residents of Dwarka have to pay Rs 14.10 per kilolitre while, ironically, those in the posh New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) area pay just Rs 2.75 for the same amount of water. In other areas under the three municipal corporations, the rate varies between Rs 7 to Rs 8 per kilolitre. “Water is expensive in Dwarka because DDA buys it from DJB and then sells it to us. Now if the whole network is supplied directly by the water utility, things are bound to fall in place,” said Manju Chowdhury, resident of Dwarka Sector 21. The protesting residents of this water-starved region in Delhi recently got some clarity about the whole issue when they met DDA Vice Chairman Balvinder Kumar regarding the same.
“We met the VC of DDA last week and we were told that the DJB has in-principle agreed to supply water to Dwarka. He also informed us that the land owning agency has proposed to the DJB to begin the work of takeover at the ground level while the paperwork can keep happening,” added Sinha. The residents, however, are wary about the borewells installed by the DDA in various sectors of Dwarka.
“As per the court’s orders, they (DDA) have installed around 16 borewells, but only three or four of them are operational. The rest are not working because there is no electricity. Even if these are commissioned, the issue is how do we get water to our homesIJ There is no water connectivity in terms of pipelines from these new borewells. So there are several logistical issues,” said another member of FDCGHS.