AAP fulfills manifesto promise, NDMC to avail Delhi's free water scheme soon

The Delhi government will further refund old water bills and pay subsidy amount to the NDMC

In a major move, the Delhi government on Saturday decided to extend a scheme, providing residents with 20,000 litres of water every month for free, in the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) area with retrospective effect.

"So far, people of entire Delhi, except those living in NDMC area, benefited from this scheme. Now we have decided to retrospectively implement the same in NDMC area," Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said after a cabinet meeting in New Delhi.

Delhi is divided into three urban regions -- the three Municipal Corporations of Delhi (MCD), the NDMC, and the Delhi Cantonment Board.

The NDMC area includes VVIP zones, including Lutyens area, Parliament House, Rashtrapati Bhavan, North Block, South Block and the Supreme Court.

"The old water bills of people living there will be refunded and Delhi government will pay subsidy amount to NDMC," Kejriwal said.

Immediately after coming to power, the AAP had decided to give free water up to 20,000 litres per month to every household in Delhi as promised in its poll manifesto. 

The cabinet has also approved a proposal to increase the capacity of an under-construction hospital in Ambedkar Nagar from 200 beds to 600 beds.

This will bring down the per bed cost from Rs 62 lakh to Rs 13.75 lakh, he added.

The AAP government also announced its decision to make permanent banks along the Yamuna river by 2017. Kejriwal said the process of making 'pucca' (concrete) ghats was already started in light of the upcoming Chhath Pooja.

"All ghats (banks) will be made concrete by next year's (2017) Chhath Pooja," he said.