Delhi CM Kejriwal slams LG, BJP over water bill issue, says 11 lakh families getting fake bills

Delhi's Chief Minister, Arvind Kejriwal, expressed worry about incorrect water bills issued during the pandemic, claiming that many months passed without meter readings, resulting in fake bills.

He noted that about 11 lakh families in Delhi were affected, receiving bills worth lakhs due to added interest on inaccurate readings.

"During the Corona period, readings were not taken for many months. They filled out fake readings while sitting in the office. Because of that wrong bills started coming, and the public did not pay the bills. Interest was charged on it and now the bills have reached lakhs. Around 11 lakh families across Delhi are getting the wrong bills," said the Aam Aadmi Party's national convener.



To tackle this, the Delhi government will introduce a plan, expecting 95 per cent of the inflated bills to be reduced to zero. Kejriwal assured affected residents they wouldn't have to pay these wrong bills and encouraged them to disregard them while ensuring a resolution.

He also criticized the involvement of the Lieutenant Governor (LG), who he claimed belongs to the BJP. He said, "LG belongs to the BJP. BJP people told LG to stop the scheme. This is wrong."

Kejriwal on Saturday met families in southeast Delhi's Govindpuri who claimed to have received inflated water bills and assured them that the issue would be resolved at the earliest. Interacting with the families, he said his government will soon bring a scheme for a one-time settlement of water bills.

"We are looking into the issue of inflated water bills and plan to resolve this by bringing a one-time settlement scheme very soon. The policy got delayed as the BJP has been creating hurdles for us. However, we are working on bringing this scheme at the earliest," PTI quoted Kejriwal as saying to the Govindpuri residents, many of whom had gathered in the streets with their water bills.

He said the AAP will do everything to implement the scheme.

Kejriwal was accompanied by Delhi Water Minister Atishi.

On Thursday, the chief minister had called an all-party meeting to discuss the one-time settlement scheme.

On Friday, AAP MLAs had protested in the Delhi Assembly against alleged stalling of the scheme by the BJP, forcing adjournment of the House.

The AAP MLAs tore and tossed copies of the "inflated" water bills inside the House and later burnt copies of the bills near the Gandhi statue in the assembly complex.

The AAP alleges that the Delhi government's one-time settlement scheme has hit a roadblock as the urban development secretary is "refusing" to present the proposal before the Council of Ministers.

The Delhi Jal Board has provided 27 lakh water connections and nearly 10.5 lakh consumers have not paid bills claiming they were highly inflated