NEW DELHI: The opposition came down heavily on the AAP government for waiving late fees charges on water bills and added that this was a desperate attempt to hide failures.
Demanding a report card, the Leader of Opposition, Vijender Gupta, said that instead of ensuring piped water supply to the city, CM Arvind Kejriwal was trying to mislead people by announcing such schemes.
The working president of Delhi Congress, Rajesh Lilothia, said schemes for free services or waivers showed the government lacked foresight and good administrative skills. The focus should be on water conservation and equal distribution of water, he said.
At a press conference, Gupta said the government should refund recovered late fee charges, as otherwise, it would be an arrear scam.
“There are no pipelines for water supply to 50 per cent of the population of Delhi. And where pipelines have been laid, water meters have not been installed in households. People are not given bills. Hence the waiver scheme is meaningless.”
The BJP leader said if adequate numbers of bus were not on the roads and inflated fixed charges recovered over the years were not returned, what was the benefit of such schemes.
“In place of making announcement of freebies for political gain, Kejriwal should strengthen the fleet and take care of DTC.”
Lilothia said given the reports of depleting groundwater, free water or waiver schemes were not intelligent ideas. “It is a frantic attempt to woo voters just before the elections. The government should think objectively.”