Kejriwal’s gift: Delhites get 667 lts. of free water; family of slain constable Rs 1 crore

The newly elected chief minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal, may have called in sick today but he worked from home and kept his promise of providing free water to each household.

Kejriwal had made poll promise of providing 700 lts of free water to each household. However, only 667 lts of water will be provided free.

The decision was taken after a meeting held at his residence in Ghaziabad which was attended by 18 members of the Delhi Jal Board.

“All the domestic consumers having 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, however, said if the consumption limit crosses 20 kilolitres, then the consumer will have to pay for the water and other charges.

The cost of providing the free water would be borne by the DJB for the first three months. After these three months, the decision will be reviewed by Kejriwal and his party.

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

Also, the ambiguity over usage of water by unauthorized colonies is yet not clear. In most households in these settlements, water metres are yet to be installed. Whether the government will charge for water being supplied to over 1,600 unauthorised colonies across the city or not will be cleared later.

Meanwhile, Kejriwal took another major decision of giving Rs 1 crore as compensation to the family of the 48-year-old excise department constable, Vinod Kumar, who had died after being attacked by bootleggers on the night of December 27.

The decision was taken after Kejriwal met excise commissioner A.K. Singh.

Kejriwal wrote a letter to Savita, the wife of the deceased constable, expressing his deep remorse for the death and showing his helplessness for not meeting her family as he was unwell. “Honouring your husband’s martyrdom, the Delhi government has announced Rs.1 crore compensation to your family,” said the letter.

According to police, the attack on the constable had taken place around 1.45 a.m. when Vinod Kumar along with constable Sokhinder and two civilians, Pawan and Mukesh, reached the area while chasing two bootleggers carrying liquor in their car.

A group of 10-12 men surrounded Vinod Kumar and his colleagues and hurled stones at them. Vinod Kumar’s colleagues managed to flee but he was caught and beaten to death.