DJB’s free water scheme benefits more than 6 lakh consumers

“More and more people are coming to us to get water connections, which in turn is benefitting the scheme. It has also promoted saving of water as even a single litre more than the exemption limit makes a consumer pay for the entire consumption,” said S S Yadav, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Delhi Jal Board.

The board released the data after completing its bi-monthly round of billing which clearly indicates that people are coming forward to install water meters in order to enjoy the benefits of the scheme which assures 20 <g data-gr-id="32">kilo litre</g> free water.

“The statistics of the second round billing shows that people living in smaller households are getting benefitted the most,” added Yadav. However, around 13,000 people of larger plot sizes of about 200 <g data-gr-id="31">sqm</g>, who reduced their consumption, also got benefitted from the scheme.

“The number of functional meters has increased by 75,000 between round-I and II. The scheme has become popular amongst consumers who have functional water meters and 65 per cent of such consumers got benefitted from the scheme in these billing rounds,” informed Yadav. 

Some of the areas that availed the maximum benefit of this scheme include Rohtas Nagar, Vishnu Vihar, Rajapuri, Raja Nagar, Indra Park Palam, Raj Nagar-I, Meethapur Extn, Patel Garden, and Mansaram Park. 

He further informed that the consumers have an option to get their defective meters replaced by private persons, the only condition being it should be a B class meter and confirming with the BSI and IP:68 standards of quality and the information of the <g data-gr-id="43">data</g> of installation of the new meters should be registered at the zonal office of DJB.

The free water scheme was notified by the DJB in March 2015 and as per the scheme, domestic consumers consuming up to 20 KL water per month are eligible for the scheme provided they have functional water meters. The same facility is also available to residents of Group Housing Societies. 

Beneficiaries of this scheme are exempted from payment of all the components of a bill like — water charge, sewerage maintenance charge, service charge, meter rent and cess.