Delhi Jal Boards Rs 100 crore budget hole: Unauthorised colonies refuse to pay road restoration fee... as agency wont say where money was spent By Rakesh Ranjan 3 November 2014 Think of the Delhi Jal Board and the image that comes to mind is leaking pipelines, not roads. But that’s at the heart of the mess the state-owned water utility now finds itself in. The DJB faces charges of financial bungling in connection with the road restoration fee it has been collecting from the residents in unauthorised colonies. The water utility has been charging Rs 800 from all consumers in these areas, allegedly to repair roads that have been sectioned or dug up for water pipelines. The twist in the tale is that the DJB - which is not responsible for road restoration work in these colonies - won’t say where this money is, or has gone. +1 RWAs are planning to approach the Centre for seeking a stay on collection of road restoration charges by the DJB Dissatisfied with inadequate answers to their Right to Information (RTI) queries, Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) in the Capital have now got together to ask the Centre for a stay on the collection of road restoration charges. They have also alleged financial bungling of about Rs 100 crore as the DJB has failed to produce details of where the money has been utilised. No DJB official was available for comment when Mail Today tried to get the board’s version of the issue, or reaction to the allegations. There are nearly 40 lakh people residing in 1,639 unauthorized colonies in Delhi, constituting an estimated 8-10 lakh households. It is interesting to note that no civic agency, including the municipal corporations, is authorized to carry out road construction activity in these colonies. The corporations are yet to formally take over these colonies. Clarification In August this year, the RWAs had enquired whether the DJB had administrative approval or authorisation from the Union Urban Development (UD) Ministry for collection of road restoration charges. It further sought clarification of whether the UD Ministry and the Delhi Government had handed over these colonies to the three municipal corporations to carry out development work. In response to the RTI queries, the DJB refused to divulge details, saying they pertained to the finance department. However, it said the DJB did not require any administrative approval from the UD Ministry to collect road restoration charges. Revealed: How the DDA kept 25,000 people waiting THREE... Government spent Rs 43.8 lakh on ONE Clean Ganga meeting Pal then shot off another RTI application, seeking details of total amount collected for road restoration, and the department to which this money was being diverted. He further asked if the DJB carried out the road restoration work for which it has been charging its consumers. These queries, too, went unanswered, with the DJB saying these matters were related to ‘senior officers’. General Secretary of United Residents of Delhi (URD) Saurabh Gandhi alleged that the Delhi Jal Board was involved in financial bungling by recovering taxes in the name of road restoration charges and new water supply connections from the residents of unauthorized colonies. The DJB is recovering Rs 440 per sq metre from each consumer for a water connection, Rs 250 for opening water connection, Rs 250 in the name of security money and Rs 800 for the repair of roads. Recovery “The previous governments in Delhi have not handed over the unauthorized colonies to the municipal corporations and hence the civic bodies could not start development work in these unauthorized colonies. The Delhi Jal Board can neither start road construction in these colonies nor allocate funds to any other civic agency for this purpose. It is a matter of investigation as to where the money is being diverted,” Gandhi alleged. He said the URD, an association of 1,248 RWAs of Delhi, would approach the Union Government seeking a stay on collection of road restoration charges. Read more: dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-2818045/Delhi-Jal-Board-s-Rs-100-crore-budget-hole-Unauthorised-colonies-refuse-pay-road-restoration-fee-agency-won-t-say-money-spent.
Posted on: Mon, 03 Nov 2014 14:14:24 +0000
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