Central departments in Delhi issued notices over water dues

NEW DELHI: In a bid to improve the condition of its coffers, the Delhi government has said that it will take whatever necessary steps prescribed under the law to recover massive financial dues of water bills from departments run by the Central government. 

Raghav Chadha, vice-chairman of the Delhi Jal Board, said that the Covid pandemic has severely weakened the economic structure of the state government for which it is pushing to recover such uncleared bills.

“If the dues are not cleared within the stipulated time, the board shall be constrained and left with no other option but to initiate coercive actions until the full and final payment is recovered. I do hope and wish that the need to press into service the rigours of penal provisions shall not arise,” said Chadha. 

The AAP MLA requested all these agencies to pay the outstanding amount as early as possible. According to the DJB, as of September, a total of Rs 6,811 crore is pending with seven agencies.

The highest outstanding amount of Rs 3,283 crore is owed by Indian Railways which is wholly managed by the Central government, while the second-highest outstanding bill of Rs 2,466 crore belongs to the North MCD. 

The Delhi Jal Board on Tuesday sent notices to seven different agencies including the likes of Central Public Works Department and Delhi Police directing them to clear their dues within the next 30 days. However, the BJP said that this is an attempt by the Arvind Kejriwal led government to “justify privatisation” of the DJB and that AAP is solely responsible for the financial mess that DJB is in.

“The Kejriwal government is conspiring to hand over the Delhi Jal Board to the private companies. Their government is the reason behind the DJB being in such a miserable condition,” said Delhi BJP President Shri Adesh Gupta. 

Earlier, Chief Minister Kejriwal had announced that the government would be hiring a private consultant to solve the problems of supply and leakage of water in the city. Meanwhile, North Delhi mayor Jai Prakash rejected the DJB’s claims as “baseless” and said, “The charges were being levelled to hide the failures of the government.” 

There was no immediate response from the Delhi Police and CPWD.