Arvind Kejriwal keeps poll promise on free water

Fulfilling its poll promise, Delhi’s Aam Aadmi Party government on Monday announced that 667 litre of free water will be provided daily for each household which has an installed water meter.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the Delhi Jal Board chaired by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal at his residence in Kausambi.

"All the domestic consumers with metered connection will get 20 kilolitres of water free of cost from January 1. We will not even levy any existing charges such as water cess and sewerage charge," newly-appointed Delhi Jal Board CEO Vijay Kumar told reporters.

He said if the consumption limit crosses 20 kilolitre, then the consumer will have to pay for the water and other charges.

Kumar was appointed the CEO of DJB on Saturday evening in place of Debashree Mukherjee, who reportedly had reservations about supplying water free of cost.

In its election manifesto, the Aam Admi Party had announced that 700 litres of free water will be supplied daily to each household if it comes to power.

In November, the Delhi Jal Board had planned to increase the water tariff by 10 per cent from to improve its finances.

It is not immediately clear whether the government will charge for the water being supplied to over 1,600 unauthorised colonies across the city as in most households in these settlements, water metres are yet to be installed.