People fill water from a Delhi Jal Board supply tank in Okhla on Tuesday. Praveen Khanna People fill water from a Delhi Jal Board supply tank in Okhla on Tuesday. Praveen Khanna

The Delhi Jal Board (DJB) Tuesday approved a combined 20 per cent hike in water and sewer charges in the capital for consumption of over 20,000 litres a month. The AAP government, however, claimed that this hike will not be for households consuming less than that. The announcement comes three months after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal took charge of the water ministry after Kapil Mishra was removed from the post. The new rates, officials said, would come into force from February 2018.

DJB vice-chairman and AAP MLA from Sangam Vihar Dinesh Mohaniya said, “It will effectively lead to a rise of Rs 28 per month for consumers crossing the 20,000-litre limit.”

Earlier, the water tariff for those consuming above 20,000 litres per month was Rs 286.89. After the increase, it will be Rs 315.05, said, officials. For those consuming 23,000 litres a month will see an increase of Rs 49.24 per month. While earlier it was Rs 465.55 per month, it will now be Rs 514.79 per month. For those consuming 25,000 litres of water, the tariff has been increased by Rs 63.28 — from Rs 535.86 to Rs 599.14.

“This is just the water charge, the sewer charge is calculated on the basis of consumption and is 60 per cent of the volumetric consumption,” said an official.

A Delhi government statement maintained, “In Tuesday’s board meeting, it was decided that in keeping with the expenditure incurred due to implementation of the Seventh Pay Commission and the execution of ambitious projects, a marginal combined increase of 20 per cent for those consuming over 20,000 litres a month, along with sewer charges be implemented from February 1, 2018.”

This isn’t the first time that the Delhi government has stressed on the finances of the water board. Earlier in December, the DJB sent notices to seven government departments for failing to pay their dues of Rs 3,220.12 crore, within a week.

An official said, “Even if you forget that the DJB is taking on new projects to ensure that everyone in Delhi has water, it is simply not easy to provide water to everyone, especially when water is becoming increasingly scarce. We are functioning under a huge financial stress.”

“(There is) no change in water tariff in Delhi for households using up to 20,000 litres per month for the third consecutive year. Above 20,000 litres, a 20 per cent combined hike on water and sewer charges was approved in the Delhi Jal Board meeting,” Delhi government spokesperson Nagendar Sharma said.

In 2015, days after coming to power, the AAP government had hiked water tariff by 10 per cent for consumers falling in the same category, keeping with an annual automatic 10 per cent rate hike mechanism put in place by the Sheila Dikshit government in 2009.

However, in 2016, the AAP government had decided against following the auto mechanism and put another hike on hold.

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