20 kl free water scheme hangs in balance

The future of the flagship scheme providing 20 kilolitres of water to households announced by the former chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal hangs in balance as the Delhi Jal Board is yet to receive the final confirmation for provision of subsidy of Rs 165 Crore for 2014-2015 from Delhi government.
"The Board was informed that on the matter pertaining to the provision of subsidy of Rs 165 Crore for the financial year 2014-2015, by the Delhi Government, in respect of the 20 Kl free water scheme, the final confirmation for provision of subsidy has not been received from the Delhi Government, as yet.

"Therefore, it has been directed by the Board to seek confirmation from the Delhi Government on the issue of providing the subsidy," a press statement issued by DJB said today.
Further, in order to provide sewerage facilities under the Nilothi Wastewater Treatment Plant Catchment area, the Board approved the work of laying of a 700 mm diameter to 1100 mm diameter RCC trunk sewer pipeline on the Nangloi-Najafgarh road.
"After the completion of the project the sewerage from unsewered areas under the command of Nilothi WWTP will be collected at Nilothi Sewage Pumping Station (SPS) for further treatment at the Nilothi WWTP, thereby, contributing to the abatement of pollution in the Yamuna," the statement said.

The above schemes were approved by the Board in today's meeting chaired by Urban Development Secretary Rajender Kumar which aim at improving the operational efficiency of the DJB by replacing and renovating old infrastructure and improving environmental conditions in the city by extending sewerage to unsewered areas.

In the 115th Board meeting of the DJB, annual budget (interim) of Rs 3,928.40 crore was passed by The Delhi Jal Board for the financial year 2014-2015.
Out of the annual budget(Interim), a plan budget of Rs 1724.87 Crore has been earmarked which consists of loans and grants-in-aid from the government of NCT of Delhi, funding from the Central Government schemes such as the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (JnNURM) and the Yamuna Action Plan (YAP) and externally-aided projects under JICA.

The non-plan budget of INR 2,203.53 Crore will account for establishment costs such as salary, pension etc and electricity costs and property tax.