Police owe Rs 281 crore to jal board

NEW DELHI: Delhi Jal Board on Friday filed an affidavit in the NGT that Delhi Police owes the water utility Rs 281.14 crore as arrears for close to 200 water connections.
The government agency was responding to a petition filed by city resident Sanjay Kumar, who had sought directions from Delhi Police to pay its pending bills along with the cess.
The petitioner also asked DJB to provide details of outstanding water bills of other government agencies.The affidavit stated that Delhi Police has paid Rs 65 crore to date.
“We had estimated the dues to be around Rs 232 crore. However, DJB has now revealed that the arrears amount to Rs 281.14 crore, including a surcharge of Rs 214.89 crore,” said Gaurav Bansal, applicant’s advocate.
In its defence, Delhi Police said police stations are sanctioned single bulk water connections. It pointed out that there are also residences within the premises of the police stations, which consume more water than the offices.
DJB said that in the absence of individual connections, tariffs on the existing connections needed to be raised. It also clarified that since Delhi Police buildings came under CPWD and PWD, demand for separate meters have to come from them.